Open 13:
12 - 18 February 2007

Robin (unseeded for the first time in a tournament this year) had to meet the number one seed Nikolay Davydenko in the first match. This was the highlight of the opening round in the very strong field that have gathered in Marseille.
It started bad for Soderling, as he lost serve midway in the opener, serving a double-fault at the break-point. Then he was broken again when serving to stay in the set for 3-6. However he stabilized his game and didn't receive another break in the match. One break was enough for him to take the match into a decider, which went to be completely one-sided - the Swede lost only four points off-serve. He broke in the very first game and then twice more for a 6-1 set and the match.
"I went a little bit more for my shots at 4-4 in the second set", Soderling said. "I played three really good points and suddenly it's 0-40; it's like all or nothing. I broke him there and served out the set. In the third set I started to slow down my pace and put a lot of balls in the court; maybe that kept him off balance and he started to make more errors."

In the second round he disposed Thomas Johansson in straight sets. Robin started very well going to a 4-0 lead. He lost one of the breaks, but comfortably served-out the set. In the second they went game for game right until the end, where Soderling saved a couple of breakpoints but managed to scrape through 7-5.

The opponent in the quarterfinal was the highest left of the seeds - the home favorite Richard Gasquet. However the match was not so close as it was expected, with Soderling running away with the opening set, breaking three times. He was never seriously threatened in the second, even though it went to a tiebreak. He lost only seven points off serve, but interestingly enough four of them was in one game, giving Gasquet the only breakpoint of the set, which Robin promptly saved. In the tiebreak he was always ahead and made two mini-breaks in a row to finish the match in just over an hour.

In his second semifinal of 2007, Soderling met the last of the home players - Gilles Simon. Three weeks ago in Zagreb, the match between them went to three sets and a final-set tiebreaker, finally won by the Swede. And this one started well, as Soderling broke early in the opening set to lead 2-0. But from there on he collapsed and lost six straight games for 2-6. He was broken again in the second set, but this time managed to fight back. Only later to be broken again at 5-5. Simon served for the match, but Soderling broke-back again. But that was all he was able to do in this match full of errors and breaks. He won just two points of the tiebreak and missed the opportunity to get his first final of the season.

Open 13 Marseille, France Surface: Indoor Hard Status: International Series Prize Money: €510,250 Draw Size: 32 Defending Champion: (WC)Arnaud Clement Last Year's finalist: (6)Mario Ancic Robin Soderling last year: Not Played Winner: Gilles Simon Finalist: (7)Marcos Baghdatis Robin Soderling this year: Semifinal Lost to Gilles Simon (FRA) Seeded players: 1. Nikolay Davydenko 2. Ivan Ljubicic 3. Mario Ancic 4. Novak Djokovic 5. David Ferrer 6. Richard Gasquet 7. Marcos Baghdatis 8. Lleyton Hewitt cut: Jan Hernych - 75

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