Robin Soderling. Will he ever return?

[brokenshoelace]

cue excuses as to why Rafa lost :snigger :lolz:

Knees.

 

[bobvance]

Now that another player has had his career ruined by mono can we begin to give Federer some credit for playing through it? Or are we going with the argument that Federer fabricated it, or had a particularly pleasant strain of the virus?

 

[brokenshoelace]

Now that another player has had his career ruined by mono can we begin to give Federer some credit for playing through it? Or are we going with the argument that Federer fabricated it, or had a particularly pleasant strain of the virus?

Nobody ever said Federer fabricated it. Props to him for doing as well as he did while having mono. But, the severity of the virus surely differ from one individual to another. Federer might be the GOAT but he's not superhuman. If the virus was as severe as the one which struck Soderling, and thank god it wasn't, at best, Roger would not have done as well as he did that year.

 

[Iona16]

Hard to feel bad for a guy wearing a $40,000 watch (a Patek Philippe Nautilus).

But yeah, I do feel for the guy and it is our loss, as for a bit there he was vying with Andy Murray for "best of the rest."

I think he will always be remembered as The Guy Who Beat Nadal at Roland Garros. Of course someone else will do it at some point, but considering that it was in the heart of Rafa's dominance it is no small feat, that.

cue excuses as to why Rafa lost :snigger :lolz:

I think it's incredibly sad to see the career of any athlete cut short. It's a real shame that illness never allowed him to return to tennis.

I did have a quick look at his career highlights. I'd have to disagree with you El Dude. I don't think he was ever vying with Murray as the best of the rest.

 

[Front242]

Hard to feel bad for a guy wearing a $40,000 watch (a Patek Philippe Nautilus).

But yeah, I do feel for the guy and it is our loss, as for a bit there he was vying with Andy Murray for "best of the rest."

I think he will always be remembered as The Guy Who Beat Nadal at Roland Garros. Of course someone else will do it at some point, but considering that it was in the heart of Rafa's dominance it is no small feat, that.

cue excuses as to why Rafa lost :snigger :lolz:

I think it's incredibly sad to see the career of any athlete cut short. It's a real shame that illness never allowed him to return to tennis.

I did have a quick look at his career highlights. I'd have to disagree with you El Dude. I don't think he was ever vying with Murray as the best of the rest.

He unfortunately met his demise at the height of his ascendancy knocking Murray down to 5th as he went up to number 4 so we'll never know. With many players such as Cilic and Stan having their bests results late in their career none of us have any clue how he'd have fared. For one thing if he was around when Murray won his slams it would've been two more slams with a very tough opponent along the way. He made a mockery of Berdych and Ferrer in his last two matches on tour beating them 6-0 6-1 and 6-2 6-2 in the semis and final of Bastad respectively. Even Nadal, Federer and Djokovic don't beat either of them by that scoreline. Ever.

Also note that El Dude correctly said "for a bit there he was vying with Andy Murray for "best of the rest." He never claimed it was for years or anything like that but at the time he quit playing he was playing so well he jumped above Murray so yes, El Dude is right on the "for a bit".

 

[Iona16]

Hard to feel bad for a guy wearing a $40,000 watch (a Patek Philippe Nautilus).

But yeah, I do feel for the guy and it is our loss, as for a bit there he was vying with Andy Murray for "best of the rest."

I think he will always be remembered as The Guy Who Beat Nadal at Roland Garros. Of course someone else will do it at some point, but considering that it was in the heart of Rafa's dominance it is no small feat, that.

cue excuses as to why Rafa lost :snigger :lolz:

I think it's incredibly sad to see the career of any athlete cut short. It's a real shame that illness never allowed him to return to tennis.

I did have a quick look at his career highlights. I'd have to disagree with you El Dude. I don't think he was ever vying with Murray as the best of the rest.

He unfortunately met his demise at the height of his ascendancy knocking Murray down to 5th as he went up to number 4 so we'll never know. With many players such as Cilic and Stan having their bests results late in their career none of us have any clue how he'd have fared. For one thing if he was around when Murray won his slams it would've been two more slams with a very tough opponent along the way. He made a mockery of Berdych and Ferrer in his last two matches on tour beating them 6-0 6-1 and 6-2 6-2 in the semis and final of Bastad respectively. Even Nadal, Federer and Djokovic don't beat either of them by that scoreline. Ever.

Also note that El Dude correctly said "for a bit there he was vying with Andy Murray for "best of the rest." He never claimed it was for years or anything like that but at the time he quit playing he was playing so well he jumped above Murray so yes, El Dude is right on the "for a bit".

He was #4 for about 10 weeks in total. A couple of weeks in November 2010 and from January 2011 until mid-March. He was #5 from then on.

He won the Paris Masters in 2010. He lost to Federer and Murray at the WTF that year. The only match he won was against Ferrer. He lost to Dolgopolov in the 4th round at the AO in 2011. He didn't repeat his heroics at RG and he lost in the 3rd round at Wimbledon to Tomic. No, we'll never know what his career might have been like had he not been struck down with mono but I won't romanticise. Perhaps he would have been a tough opponent for Andy in the slams but Murray did beat the world #1 to win both his slams. I think Andy would have been fine.

I did note exactly what El Dude wrote. I just happen to disagree with him.

 

[Front242]

He was in absolute bits against Tomic and was sweating like a demon just like Federer was when he had mono in early 2008, hence why he lost so badly there. Mono is intermittent and he was fine in Bastad but only he knows he badly affected his 2011 was by it so those 2011 results were no surprise besides Bastad where his mono seemed to have gone away temporarily but he couldn't play another single match after that. Certainly Wimbledon he looked destroyed physically, all dizzy and dripping with sweat. I don't put too much stock into how he fared at the WTF as many players are drained by that time of year and having had his 2 best seasons back to back he had clearly played a lot more matches than before, 'cos he won way more.

 

[El Dude]

Iona16, if we're going literally by what Front242 pointed out was my careful wording, and we look at the rankings, then it does seem that I was correct. I'm not just talking about the few weeks that Soderling was #4, but the year+ that he was ranked #5 or higher. For much of that time he was very close to Murray in the rankings, separated by just a few hundred points. Consider, for instance, the year-end 2010 rankings:

1. Nadal 12450
2. Federer 9145
3. Djokovic 6240
4. Murray 5760
5. Soderling 5580
6. Berdych 3955

Soderling finished just 180 points behind Murray - that's the difference between the 4R and QF at a single Slam.

(Actually, to be fair, Djokovic was actually the "best of the rest" as the "Fedal" was still quite far above the rest of the field).

Don't get me wrong: Andy Murray is, historically, a much greater player than Soderling. But for about a year there, Soderling was just a half step behind.

 

[brokenshoelace]

There's virtually zero chance Soderling was actually going to overtake Murray as the "best of the rest" irrespective of rankings. Unless every player ahead of Murray now has overtaken him too. If Soderling's career not been cut short at the end of 2011, Murray would have somehow not won the Olympics and the US Open a few months later? That's a reach.

 

[Front242]

Pretty annoying interviewer (imo) but all the same this is a recent interview from Soderling talking about his mono and a possible comeback.

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LyFdr3onUgY[/video]

 

[Billie]

Thanks Front, he looks good, his hair is now so much longer than before.

I have my doubts about him coming back to play competitively, though. He is getting older and if he needs more time to recoup after training now, then that doesn't bode well for him. But he does look happy about his family, so that is a great thing.

 

[tented]

Robin. Soderling. Is. Not. Coming. Back.

 

[Front242]

Don't be so sure. Thanks to Moxie for re-energizing my searches on Soderling. Hadn't checked any news for a while now but it's finally beginning to sound a bit more positive.

"I'm actually finally doing a lot better," says the 30-year-old Swede.

"I wouldn't say I'm 100%, but not very far from it, which is a great feeling."

He added: "Hopefully - if it continues to progress the way it has been - then maybe, it's tough to say, but maybe six months or a year from now I can hopefully start to train 100%.

"My goal was to play a long career and to play until I was way over 30. If I can become healthy, I still feel that I have some good years in me. Look at the way the players on the tour are performing now at a high age - that gives me a little bit of hope."


http://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/robin-soderling-aiming-for-a-comeback-to-tennis-five-years-after-last-appearance/story-fndkzym4-1227378052903

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/tennis/32944718

 

[brokenshoelace]

The best thing about Novak beating Rafa (for me) is that this makes Soderling a little less relevant in his retirement. No more "the only guy to beat Rafa at RG."

Of course, Front, feel free to keep up your hunt for BigFoot, but Soderling isn't coming back.

 

[Front242]

If Muster can come back at 41, Soderling can come back at almost 31. Haas missed another year and is back this month at the age of 37 and I'd hazard a guess at full fitness Tommy would give the best of them a hard time. Can't see why a guy 6 years younger wouldn't if he's back to full fitness.

 

[I.Haychew]

The best thing about Novak beating Rafa (for me) is that this makes Soderling a little less relevant in his retirement. No more "the only guy to beat Rafa at RG."

Of course, Front, feel free to keep up your hunt for BigFoot, but Soderling isn't coming back.

I agree that Soderling ain't comin' back. But...He's still the only guy to beat Folks at the French Open when Folks was in his "prime".

 

[brokenshoelace]

The best thing about Novak beating Rafa (for me) is that this makes Soderling a little less relevant in his retirement. No more "the only guy to beat Rafa at RG."

Of course, Front, feel free to keep up your hunt for BigFoot, but Soderling isn't coming back.

I agree that Soderling ain't comin' back. But...He's still the only guy to beat Folks at the French Open when Folks was in his "prime".

...but not when he was healthy :snicker

 

[britbox]

If Muster can come back at 41, Soderling can come back at almost 31. Haas missed another year and is back this month at the age of 37 and I'd hazard a guess at full fitness Tommy would give the best of them a hard time. Can't see why a guy 6 years younger wouldn't if he's back to full fitness.

He can come back all right - but Muster is no example - he could barely string a couple of sets together. If Soderling comes back, don't expect him to hit the Top 30. He might struggle to break the Top 70. He won't be a Top 10 player again, that's for sure.

 

[Kieran]

It would be great to see Robin come back - emotional, even - but I just hope his health is good for his real life outside of tennis. He's had a tough trot of things, and there's bigger stuff to watch for that playing a game he doesn't need to play. I hope he doesn't over-strain himself...

 

[tented]

It would be great to see Robin come back - emotional, even - but I just hope his health is good for his real life outside of tennis. He's had a tough trot of things, and there's bigger stuff to watch for that playing a game he doesn't need to play. I hope he doesn't over-strain himself...

That's an excellent point. While I understand players who are forced not to play for a long time are anxious to get back on court -- it's all they know, in a way, since they've been doing it since they were kids -- it's not worth it if it ends up making their lives even worse in the long run.

According to the ATP site, Soderling earned $10.4 million in prize money, plus whatever he made for endorsements. Unless he's blown it, he's set for life.