Robin Söderling

Robin Bo Carl Söderling (born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player.

He made his first steps in international tennis in November 1998 in Luxembourg when at the age of 14 he played his first official junior tournament, losing the opening match to Fred Hemmes Jr..

In his first full year in the junior tour (2000), he achieved four tournament victories and in 2001 attained three more titles in the juniors including the prestigious Orange Bowl, which he won without dropping a set.

In the same year, Söderling achieved No. 4 in the year-end ranking.

Söderling turned pro in 2001, but only played 2 tour-level matches.

He played in his first ATP tournament in Stockholm, winning his first match 6–3, 6–3 against Ramón Delgado.

As a junior Söderling reached as high as No. 2 in the world in singles in 2002 (and No. 11 in doubles).

Söderling tried to make his name known in the men's circuit in 2002, playing five more ATP tournaments and the second round of the US Open.

In the Challenger circuit, he achieved a 20–7 record, and he played in the US Open Junior tournament where he reached the final.

In 2003 the transition to the main tour was completed as he reached the third round at Wimbledon (coming from the qualifying rounds) and reached an ATP final in Stockholm (losing a decisive tie-break there), earning the year-end ranking of 86.

Robin's first ATP title came in 2004 at the Lyon where he beat Belgian Xavier Malisse in the final.

He also made the final at Marseille.

By the end of the year, Söderling climbed into the world's top 50 in the rankings.

Nadal had previously never lost at the tournament since his debut in 2005 and was the four-time defending champion.

Söderling subsequently advanced to the final, defeating two-time semi-finalist Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals and Fernando González in five sets in the semifinals en route before being defeated by Roger Federer in the final.

Söderling suffered his first serious injury in 2005, eventually resulting in a knee operation in March.

But even though not fit to play many tournaments, he managed to win another title – in Milan (defeating Radek Štěpánek in the final).

After a mediocre and injury troubled season from there on, Söderling reached the third round in the US Open before going through another surgery.

Returning in 2006, he bounced back from 100th place in the Indesit ATP rankings to top 50 within three months, even though knee and shoulder injuries still prevented him from playing at his best.

He helped the Swedish team with two wins to keep its World Group Davis Cup spot in a play-off in Brazil.

During this he earned sufficient ATP points to finish at a then career-high ranking of No. 25 in the world.

In 2007 Söderling made it to the round of 32 at Wimbledon, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in a five-set match.

He caused much controversy on the court when he exchanged mocking behaviour with Nadal, tugging on his shorts in the manner Nadal is known for after growing tired of Nadal's slow play at the beginning of the 5th.

Söderling did not make it to an ATP final for the first time in five years in 2007, however, he turned out consistent results throughout the year.

He missed the last 3 months of the main tour due to a left wrist injury.

Söderling missed the Australian Open due to injury.

The first tournament he entered in 2007 was the Open 13 Marseille, where he reached the quarterfinals.

He then reached the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (Rotterdam), finishing runner-up to Michaël Llodra in the final, 7–6, 2–6, 6–3.

His career highlights include reaching two consecutive finals at the French Open in 2009 and 2010, and an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the 2010 Paris Masters.

He was the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the French Open.

Söderling played his last professional match at only age 26 after contracting a lingering bout of mononucleosis.

Söderling began playing tennis at the age of five.

Söderling came to prominence at the 2009 French Open, where he became the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the tournament, and the only one to achieve it until Novak Djokovic in 2015.

He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 15 November 2010.

Söderling reached a second successive French Open final in 2010.

He defeated defending champion Federer in the quarterfinals, which ended Federer's record streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals.

Söderling won the semifinal in five sets against Tomáš Berdych before losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal in the final.

Following injuries and illness, Söderling had not played a tour-level match since he won the 2011 Swedish Open in July 2011, (at which time he was ranked No. 5 in the world, was only 26 years old and was ranked inside the Top 5 for more than 50 consecutive weeks) until his retirement in 2015.

He has become active in tennis administration as a tournament director at the Stockholm Open in 2014 and 2015 and produced his own brand of premium tennis gear since 2013.

On 23 December 2015, Söderling announced his retirement from professional tennis.