Söderling falls short in Swedish Open final
Spain's Nicolas Almagro beat top seed and defending champion Robin Söderling in three sets in the final of the clay-court ATP Swedish Open at Båstad on Sunday.
The 24-year-old survived dropping the second set to win 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in just under two hours. It was his sixth ATP title and his first of 2010. The first set saw the match going with serve until 5-5 when Söderling, the home favourite, came under pressure from the clay court specialist.
The Swede saved three break points before giving Almagro the advantage. The Spaniard held to go one set up. However, Söderling stepped up his game in the second set to level the match
before handing over the advantage again in the third.
He had already beaten Italy's David Seppi and Spain's David Ferrer in three sets to reach the final, but this was a match too far as he dropped his service twice in succession to hand the title to Almagro.
"I didn't play my best tennis," said the disconsolate Swede, who lost in the final of the French Open in May to another Spanish clay-court specialist, Rafael Nadal, who regained his number one ranking on the ATP Tour after the win.
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The 24-year-old survived dropping the second set to win 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in just under two hours. It was his sixth ATP title and his first of 2010. The first set saw the match going with serve until 5-5 when Söderling, the home favourite, came under pressure from the clay court specialist.
The Swede saved three break points before giving Almagro the advantage. The Spaniard held to go one set up. However, Söderling stepped up his game in the second set to level the match
before handing over the advantage again in the third.
He had already beaten Italy's David Seppi and Spain's David Ferrer in three sets to reach the final, but this was a match too far as he dropped his service twice in succession to hand the title to Almagro.
"I didn't play my best tennis," said the disconsolate Swede, who lost in the final of the French Open in May to another Spanish clay-court specialist, Rafael Nadal, who regained his number one ranking on the ATP Tour after the win.
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