La Vita è Bella Life is Beautiful. La Vita es Bonita. 美麗人生　

242愛的鼓勵 7訂閱站台

Soderling 會是 Borg 與 Edberg 的接班人嗎？另一邊 Federer 還在奮戰，BBC, "Del Potro has a strong start but Federer is a man on fire."現在正在打第五盤。還滿希望看到決賽是新面孔的對決！

會是 Federer vs. Soderling 還是 Del Potro vs. Soderling? Federer的大滿貫就差法網的冠軍了...差一座大滿貫的冠軍盃就平了山普拉斯的紀錄了。一方面希望看到新人出頭，一方面又不希望紀錄被破...還真是矛盾！Pete Sampras拿了14座大滿貫，也差法網冠軍。




Page last updated at 15:03 GMT, Friday, 5 June 2009 16:03 UK
Soderling in final after thriller

FRENCH OPEN SEMI-FINALS
Coverage: Live coverage on Red Button and BBC Sport website (UK users only) from 1200 BST and live text commentary on BBC Sport website & mobiles.
By Mark Ashenden


The Swede had not reached a Grand Slam semi-final before Friday

Robin Soderling survived a Fernando Gonzalez fightback to win 6-3 7-5 5-7 4-6 6-4 and make the French Open final.

The Swede, seeded 23, began well and comfortably took the first two sets, but the Chilean edged a thrilling third and battled back to steal the fourth.

The 12th seed looked favourite to win at 4-1 up in the final set, but Soderling regained his composure to reel off five games in a row.

He will meet either Roger Federer or Juan Martin del Potro in the final.

"It's unbelievable," said Soderling. "I played well in the first two sets. Then he started to play incredibly well.

"I was down a break in the final set but I said to myself that I have nothing to lose. I started to return great and everything changed.

"I still have far to go with the most difficult match, maybe against Federer, to come on Sunday."

Soderling will be delighted with his comeback after looking out of sorts once he had moved into a two-set lead.

The Swede traded heavy blows from the baseline in a cautious start but it was Gonzalez who began the sharpest, breaking Soderling in the third game with a blistering backhand down the line.

His initiative did not last long though and Soderling, beginning to find his range and cranking up the power, raced into a 4-2 lead with four games in a row before comfortably taking the set 6-3.

Gonzalez, in only his second Grand Slam semi-final, seemed to lose his cool in the fifth game with an increasing number of errors, but he hung in there with the second set progressing with serve.

Soderling, conqueror of Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, still looked the stronger of the two but despite facing three break points on his serve, Gonzalez battled his way back to edge ahead 5-4 after a nail-biting game.

The 10th game was a thriller as Gonzalez got within one point of levelling at one-set all, but the Swede, increasingly error-strewn himself, scrambled home with two booming serves.

The energy seemed to drain from the Chilean and despite a brief fightback after trailing 0-40 on his serve, one smashed Gonzalez racquet and an imperious service game from Soderling later, the Swede took the second set 7-5.

With the third set going with serve, Gonzalez slowly began to exhibit the skills Ronald Garros witnessed in his defeat of Andy Murray in the last eight.

And with his opponent wobbling on his serve, the Chilean pulled a set back to get the crowd on the Philippe Chatrier court roaring again.

The opening game of the fourth set was breathtaking. Gonzalez faced three break points but battled back to take the game with one phenomenal forehand winner down the line on the run.

At 4-4 the drama and tension was building and after Gonzalez, unhappy with a line call, lost his protest with the umpire he bizarrely rubbed the ball mark with his backside.

A few minutes later the match had turned on its head and the ruffled Swede, with his serve and forehand crumbling, handed the fourth set to Gonzalez.

His momentum showed no sign of slowing down as he grabbed the opening three games of the deciding set.

Incredibly, Soderling seemed to relax and broke back to reduce the deficit to 4-3 and then broke again to be within a service game of the match.

The Swede, with six-times French Open champion Bjorn Borg watching from the stands, held his nerve to secure a remarkable victory.

"I never felt comfortable," said Gonzalez. "I couldn't hit clearly and it was tough.

"I served at 4-3 in the final set and I knew I had the match in my hands. I wanted to win it on my first serves, not second, but he made some great returns.

"If he keeps serving at over 200kph and finding the lines, it'll be tough for whoever he faces in the final."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8085468.stm



French Open
Soderling Beats Gonzalez in Semifinal


Robin Soderling hadn't advanced beyond the third round in his previous 21 major tournaments.

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
Published: June 5, 2009

PARIS — Perhaps Rafael Nadal feels a little better now. Better after a few days in his pool in Majorca resting his sore knee and sore ego. Better after a birthday party at home for a change and better after seeing what Robin Soderling has managed to do since he ruined Nadal’s chance to win a record fifth straight French Open.

That victory last Sunday in the fourth round was the upset of the decade, perhaps the upset of longer than that. But Soderling is well on his way to proving it was no fluke, and on Friday, despite trailing 1-4 in the fifth set against Fernando Gonzalez, he found a way to avoid elimination in his breakthrough tournament.

On Sunday, Soderling, a 25-year-old Swede, will play his first Grand Slam final against the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro.

"I have very, very far to go; I have the most difficult match of the whole tournament to go," Soderling said after his 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Gonzalez. "I have to recover as fast as I can."

Soderling, seeded 23rd here, is no newcomer to the events that matter most in tennis. He played in his first Grand Slam event in 2002 at the United States Open after he had just turned 18. And in the nearly seven years since then, he had never advanced past the third round in a Grand Slam.

But his 22nd appearance has turned into an extraordinary journey through a brutal draw that has included clay-court masters like David Ferrer, Nikolay Davydenko and Gonzalez as well as Nadal, who is considered one of the best two clay-court players in history along with Bjorn Borg.

Borg, who represents Sweden’s golden age of tennis, was in the front row on Friday to watch Soderling, the only Swedish player in this year’s singles tournament. But despite the clay underfoot, this match often bore a closer resemblance to a hardcourt battle as Soderling stayed close to the baseline and took big, flat but hardly frantic swings.

For nearly three sets he was outstanding, keeping Gonzalez on the defensive with his two-handed backhands down the line, aggressive returns and probing forehands, which proved every bit a match for the most famous forehand of his Chilean opponent.

But with a straight-set victory in range, Soderling served at 5-6 in the third and proceeded to crack for the first time, losing his serve after two uncharacteristically off-target forehands. Gonzalez was back in the match and after struggling mightily to hold in his opening service game, he won his serve more comfortably until the game was at 4-all.

At 15-0, Soderling hit a backhand down the line that looked like a winner and was called good. Gonzalez disagreed and asked chair umpire Emmanuel Joseph chair umpire to descend from his chair and take a closer look. Joseph did so and then asked for the linesman who had made the call to confirm which mark on the clay was the proper one.

With Gonzalez growing agitated, Joseph confirmed that the call had been correct, but Gonzalez was convinced they were using the wrong ball mark. He argued more and then returned to the spot in question, sat down on the clay and used his bottom to wipe out both marks.

It was a crude gesture that flashed back to bawdier times in tennis when ill-mannered stars like Ilie Nastase and Jimmy Connnors grabbed their crotches in the directions of crowds and umpires, and it was an out-of-character move from the normally genial Gonzalez.


With the crowd no longer entirely on his side, he would go on to hold and then break Soderling in the next game to even the match at two sets apiece. He would then leap out to a 4-1 lead in the fifth set as Soderling continued to struggle with his timing.

But with Gonzalez serving at 15-30 and 4-2, the Swede put together two extraordinary returns in a row, the second a forehand winner off a wide first serve. They were back on serve and Soderling would never lose another game: reeling off five straight in all and then dropping to his knees on the clay in triumph, covering his eyes with clenched fists with Borg rising up in his chair in the Presidents box.

"He was playing so good," Soderling said of the 12th-seeded Gonzalez. "And I felt like, ‘I can only do my best, that’s the only thing I can do, just go for my best.’ And all of the sudden, one point just turned around the match I think."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/sports/tennis/06tennis.html?_r=1&ref=sports

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