Update 6:45 pm. Men’s top seed Robin Soderling has inched closer to a dream final showdown with Andy Roddick at the Brisbane International after a quarterfinal dismissal of Matthew Ebden, Australia’s last remaining singles hope.
The towering 6ft 4 Swede consistently sent down first serves 20 km/h faster than Ebden’s to blast his way through to a semifinal clash with veteran Radek Stepanek.
The West Australian stood toe-to-toe for the first four games, much to the delight of an appreciative home crowd but serving at 2-3 , had a let called on his first serve.
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Soderling was convinced the ball had gone through the net and questioned: “You OK with first serve?”
It was enough to pump up the world No.5 as he went on to break for 4-2 before holding for 5-2 when an Ebden lob floated long.
One break was all the Swede required though as he closed out the first set with a 219 km/h ace.
“I’ve been serving really well all week. I haven’t been broken yet and today especially I managed to serve really well when it really matters,” Soderling said.
“I still know that I can play better. I’ve played three pretty solid matches so it feels good coming into tomorrow’s semifinal.”
“I’ve played against Radek many times and we’ve always had tough matches so I have to stay focussed on this one.”
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Having come through qualifying, Ebden had won five singles matches on the run in Brisbane and was counter-punching well against Soderling’s heavy groundstrokes.
“First week of the year, I’ve played eight matches including a couple in the doubles so it’s a great start and I think that’s very important leading into the rest of the year, so I’m very happy,” Ebden said.
“Above all, my professionalism and my mentality this week has been good.
“For me it’s an opportunity to test at that level and obviously you learn things so hopefully I can take some experience and move forward with it.”
Soderling applied the pressure again early in the second set, breaking before holding for 2-0 with another 200+ km/h serve.
He saved his biggest serve of the match in the following game, topping the radar at 225 km/h with a bullet down the T.
With a double break in hand, he brought up his first match point with a cracking forehand winner down the line off an Ebden serve.
The 23-year-old Aussie saved the first with a forehand volley putaway and had the crowd behind him as he held with an ace out wide.
Soderling would make no mistake on his second match point, closing out the second set in the same way he did the first – with an ace, his ninth of the match.
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