TENNIS in DEPTH.

Juan Martin Del Potro battled back after a rain delay to dump out top seed Robin Soderling and book a semi-final berth at the Estoril Open in Portugal today. The former US Open champion, on the comeback trail after missing most of the 2010 season due to injury, took the first set 6-4 but trailed 1-4 in the second when the match was disrupted. Del Potro returned after the delay to reel off six of the next seven games and wrap up a 6-4 7-5 success in just under two hours. Del Potro will meet Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas in the semi-finals after Cuevas produced a strong performance to defeat Thomasz Bellucci of Brazil 6-4 6-2 in their 79-minute match.

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson won a first set tie-break 7-6 (7-2) over Fernando Verdasco when their match was suspended due to darkness. Gilles Simon of France led Canada’s Milos Raonic 6-5.

In the women’s event, Germany’s Kristina Barrois reached the second WTA Tour final of her career with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 win over Johanna Larsson of Sweden. In the final Barrois will meet Spanish clay-court expert Anabel Medina Garrigues, who needed just 89 minutes to defeat Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-1 6-3.

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Third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was a surprise second round casualty as he fell 6-2 7-6 (7-0) to Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas. Next up for Cuevas is Brazil’s Thomasz Bellucci, who beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 6-3 5-7 7-5.

Top seed Robin Soderling continued to shrug off some recent patchy form as he produced a big-serving performance to beat Jeremy Chardy and advance to the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open. Despite a struggle in the second set, Swede Soderling – who has already bagged three ATP Tour titles this year, regrouped and lost just two points on serve in the final set of a 6-1 6-7 (7-4) 6-1 win. Soderling will meet Argentina’s eighth seed Juan Martin Del Potro in the last eight. Del Potro continued his recovery from his season out through injury by beating Colombia’s Alejandro Falla 6-2 6-1.

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Juan Martin Del Potro crafted his best performance of the 2011 season, dismantling No. 4 seed Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-2 on stadium court in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open. The two heavy hitters started emphatically, each ripping winners on both wings to hold serve easily. The Argentine then made his move in the fourth game with three break opportunities. Though Soderling brought the game to deuce, Del Potro continued to generate incredible pace and broke the Swede on his fourth chance. Down 5-2, Soderling held serve after saving a set point with a much needed first serve. Del Potro proceeded to close out the set in the next game with a cracking forehand winner down the line. The 2009 US Open champion continued to make things difficult for Soderling, winning the first three points of the second set for an early opportunity to break. Soderling again clawed his way out of the 0-40 hole but del Potro was too strong, eventually breaking the Swede. A semi-finalist here last year, Soderling was unable to inflict any pressure on del Potro’s serve, failing to see a single break point opportunity throughout the match. A beautifully struck backhand pass set up two break points for del Potro at 4-2 and his conversion on the following point was a virtual end to the match for the deflated Soderling. The Argentine served out the match effortlessly, winning his third straight encounter against the Swede.

Del Potro’s fourth round opponent is Mardy Fish, the 14th seed. The American won earlier today over Frenchman Richard Gasquet in straight sets.

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Robin Soderling became the highest seeded casualty at the Indian Wells Masters when he was upset 7-6(8) 6-4 by Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round. Fourth-seeded Soderling, the hottest player on the ATP Tour this year with three titles to his name, appeared to struggle with an ankle injury before being eliminated in a match lasting one hour 37 minutes. The Swede lost the opening set tiebreaker 10-8 and was then broken by Kohlschreiber in the decisive 10th game of the second set to suffer just his second loss in 21 matches this year. Kohlschreiber, seeded 32nd, has always proven a handful for the Swede, who has now lost four of their five career meetings.

The premature departure of Soderling followed the early exits by fifth seed Andy Murray of Britain, sixth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and defending champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in the second round on Saturday.

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Robin Soderling claimed his third title of the year as he came from a set behind to beat Marin Cilic in the final of the Open 13 in Marseille. The top-seeded Swede, whose only defeat of 2011 came against Alexandr Dolgopolov in the Australian Open, surrendered the first set on a tie-break before taking the next two 6-3 to claim the title. Croatia’s Cilic hit 16 aces to Soderling’s 12 but also double faulted five times and made just 57 per cent of his first serves. Soderling, meanwhile, converted five of eight break points as he added to his successes this year in Brisbane and Rotterdam.

He said: “It’s of course a very nice feeling. Winning three tournaments in four tries is something I’ve never been close to before. “It’s the best possible start. I’ve won many matches and only lost one, unfortunately in the fourth round in Melbourne. It’s a great start and I really hope it can continue this way.”

Cilic was pleased with his week in Marseille. “I’m really pleased with this week and also the past two or three weeks, starting with the Australian Open,” he said. “That shows me I’m a little bit more in the game and playing better. It’s, of course, a little bit of a relief to come to the final after almost a year. I think I played well all week. There is no reason why I should stop here.”

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Marin Cilic will meet top seed Robin Soderling in the final of the ATP Tour Open 13 on Sunday after both emerged victorious in their respective semi-finals. Unseeded Croatian Cilic, who had stunned second-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-4 on Friday, continued his return to form with a battling 6-2 1-6 7-5 triumph over third seed Mikhail Youzhny.

Sweden’s world number four Soderling cruised past another Russian, Dmitry Tursunov, 7-5 6-1, and has yet to drop a set in the Marseille event this year. World number 28 Cilic faced a match-point at 3-5 in the third set but held his nerve and went on to advance to his ninth Tour final – his first since May, when he lost to Youzhny in Munich. “In the second set and the beginning of the third he was playing really good and it wasn’t easy to stay in there and wait for a chance. I had to make some kind of a change, which I did, and it was really good from my perspective that this win comes from a good fight and great mentality.”

He will have his work cut out to clinch the title, though, with Soderling on an eight-match winning streak after capturing his second Tour title of the season last week in Rotterdam. “It’s not too bad,” reflected the 26-year-old Swede. “I won many matches and I beat a lot of good players.

“It feels really good and hopefully it can continue this way for a while.”

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World number four Robin Soderling retained his World Tennis Tournament title in Rotterdam with a 6-3 3-6 6-3 defeat of France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The double French Open finalist took his record over Tsonga to 4-0, despite dropping his first set of the week. It was the Swede’s eighth ATP victory from 18 tournament finals.

Tsonga, seeded eighth, had last claimed a tournament in October 2009, and was in with a chance when taking the second set but Soderling picked up his game. Tsonga served impressively in patches, with 20 aces to Soderling’s 12, but lost his serve twice in the first set after securing an early break. He hit back by finishing off some neat approach play with point-clinching volleys – until a break in the eighth game of the decider prompted Tsonga’s downfall. Soderling, picking up his 13th win from 14 matches this year, became the fourth player to retain the Rotterdam title after Arthur Ashe, Stefan Edberg and Nicolas Escude.

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Top seed and defending champion Robin Soderling eased through to the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam with a 6-3 6-2 win over Dutch wild card Robin Haase. The world number four, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open last month, was in powerful form and dropped only six points on serve in a match lasting just 52 minutes.

But there was a big shock in store for third seed and Australian Open semi-finalist David Ferrer, who was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen. Ferrer had beaten Nieminen in the first round in Melbourne.

Fourth seed Tomas Berdych dispatched Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-1 6-2 and other seeds safely through to the second round included seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic and eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

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