Robin Soderling retires

[britbox]

Robin Soderling has announced his retirement, putting an end speculation on his comeback.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/35170939

 

[isabelle]

We all knew it.....he always said that he wou'ld not travel with 2 kids. Have a nice life Robi, be happy with your family

 

[Billie]

It is not a surprising piece of news, I suppose.  All the best to him and his family.  I guess he has a lot of reasons to be happy.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Good for him. Obviously, he's been practically retired for years but still. He's had a better career than most. I do wonder though, has there ever been a player whose whole career is associated with a single result more than Soderling? Keep in mind, this is not some scrub who only had one memorable match. He was a perennial top 10 player who reached two major finals. Yet, to most, he's the Rafa slayer. Honestly, still the biggest upset in the history of sport for me personally. As in, I've never been more shocked after a sporting event than I was when he beat Nadal in 2009.

 

[mrzz]

Just watched a long highlights reel from the 2009 match. Soderling was playing fantastic, sure, but what impresses me the most is the uncountable moments were the absolute majority of players would have chocked, and he stood firm. Even watching the highlights and knowing the result, after a lot of points I couldn't help but think "this is when Nadal starts/seals the comeback".

 

[Moxie]

Good for him. Obviously, he’s been practically retired for years but still. He’s had a better career than most. I do wonder though, has there ever been a player whose whole career is associated with a single result more than Soderling? Keep in mind, this is not some scrub who only had one memorable match. He was a perennial top 10 player who reached two major finals. Yet, to most, he’s the Rafa slayer. Honestly, still the biggest upset in the history of sport for me personally. As in, I’ve never been more shocked after a sporting event than I was when he beat Nadal in 2009.

Not to be too picky, but "perennial" top 10 is a bit of a stretch.  And it's not a quibble, but part of what I admire about Soderling:  he rode his big win up to the next level and stayed there.  I looked him up and found a few interesting things:  he had been mostly mid-100s, into the 20s before Oct. 2008, when he broke into the top 20.  He was #12 when he beat Rafa in that infamous match.  (And it was the most shocking sporting upset I remember, too.)  Not only did he not lose in the next round, as so many do, he broke into the top 10 and never fell out of it before he was stopped by illness.  (2 years in the Top 10, highest rank: #4.)  As a Nadal fan, I actually found it gratifying that the man who beat him at RG was finally fulfilling potential (at least according to Borg,) and not just a flash-in-the-pan.

One player comes to mind who is rather equally associated with one (set of) upsets:  Adriano Panatta, who is the only person to beat Borg at RG, and he did it twice.  That fact I think most of us know.  However, I, at least, didn't realize he'd actually won RG in '76, the 2nd year he beat Borg.  That's how tenacious the Borg trivia point is.  Interestingly, Soderling won 10 career titles, Panatta 11; each won 1 MS title (or equivalent - Soderling won Paris and Panatta won Rome,) and each had a career high #4 rank.

Also interesting, and poignant, about Soderling:  his last tournament was the Swedish Open, which he won in July 2011.  Not only did he not drop a set, he only lost 13 games in 5 matches.  I'm sorry he could never come back.

 

 

[DarthFed]

I think what Broken means is that he became a fixture in the top 10 following the huge upset in 2009.  Before that he was just a semi-dangerous player hovering around #20.  From RG 2009 until his last tournament most would probably have him as the 5th-6th best player after the top 4 and maybe Del Po (mostly for his run in late 2009). Even though he showed great improvement it is not surprising that everyone immediately associates him with the win over Nadal.  It certainly is up there as far as greatest upsets in the history of sports.

 

[mrzz]

I am sure I mentioned this before, but I remember quite well Soderling beating Roddick in the 2011 Brisbane final. It is a smal l tournament, I know, but the guy played like the big boys, and I was sure then that from there he would go higher and higher. Today I am pretty sure that if it wasn't for the mono he would have won at least a few slams. He had the power and the attitude. Unfortunately, he never had the time.

 

[Moxie]

I think what Broken means is that he became a fixture in the top 10 following the huge upset in 2009. Before that he was just a semi-dangerous player hovering around #20. From RG 2009 until his last tournament most would probably have him as the 5th-6th best player after the top 4 and maybe Del Po (mostly for his run in late 2009). Even though he showed great improvement it is not surprising that everyone immediately associates him with the win over Nadal. It certainly is up there as far as greatest upsets in the history of sports.

I think I said the same thing.  Interesting to put him in the same conversation with Del Potro:  two players who were considered to be threats to the Big 4.  Del Potro was actually considered the 5th man.  One does wonder what the last few years would have been like if both had stayed healthy.  It is a shame, because they're both top-drawer players.  Not Fedal/Djoker level, but maybe swimming around Murray's level.  And both might have done some serious spoiling, if not more.

 

[DarthFed]

^ The news of Soderling retiring kind of had me doing the same thing as far as wondering what may have been the past few years.  Given what's happened it would have been very possible for him to break through and win a slam or slams like Cilic and Wawrinka have done.

 

[brokenshoelace]

When Soderling and Del Potro broke through in 2009, it really made for a brutally competitive top 10. We actually started looking at which quarter they'd land in. And while Del Potro's wrist injury was -- and continues to be -- hugely unfortunate (it's insane to think this guy has been struggling with more or less the same injuries for six years! Man time flies by...), Soderling remained a major player for 3 seasons. Throughout those years, he was a constant threat and a player nobody really liked to see on other end of the net because once he got hot he was scary. There was honestly something visually intimidating about the way he bludgeoned the ball with those huge backswings.

 

[I.Haychew]

There was honestly something visually intimidating about the way he bludgeoned the ball with those huge backswings. [/quote]

His forehand always reminded me of Ivan Drago's right cross in "Rocky IV". I wonder if, while at the net before his 2009 French Open beatdown of Folks, he said to Folks..."I must break you!"

The funny thing is that, like Soderling, Dolph Lundgren (Drago) is from Sweden.