Söderling swings to victory in France
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 27 Oct, 2008 CET.
Updated: Mon 27 Oct 2008 09:43 CET
Swedish seventh seed Robin Söderling saw off unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau on Sunday 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 to win the €713,000 ($884,000) Lyon ATP final.
Söderling, ranked 27 in the world, won here in 2004 and took his overall career haul to three tournaments.
A break in the sixth game was enough for him to get his nose in front after 27 minutes but world number 56 Benneteau fought back to land the second on the tiebreak.
Benneteau dropped serve in the seventh game but as Söderling increasingly encroached on the net the Frenchman began to find his range, breaking back at the third time of asking.
In the ensuing tiebreak the home hope kept his nerve to level the encounter but ultimately his recovery flattered to deceive as Söderling promptly ratcheted up his own game to race through the decider on the back of two quickfire breaks.
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Söderling, ranked 27 in the world, won here in 2004 and took his overall career haul to three tournaments.
A break in the sixth game was enough for him to get his nose in front after 27 minutes but world number 56 Benneteau fought back to land the second on the tiebreak.
Benneteau dropped serve in the seventh game but as Söderling increasingly encroached on the net the Frenchman began to find his range, breaking back at the third time of asking.
In the ensuing tiebreak the home hope kept his nerve to level the encounter but ultimately his recovery flattered to deceive as Söderling promptly ratcheted up his own game to race through the decider on the back of two quickfire breaks.
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