Home favourite Robin Soderling looks to book a semi-final place when he takes on Potito Starace in the Swedish Open quarter-finals.
Soderling was in no mood to waste time in his opening match, demolishing qualifier Diego Junqueira 6-0, 6-1 to the delight of his home fans. The top seed means business this week and with three ATP titles already under his belt this year, few would bet against him picking up his second Swedish Open title.
Today's clash against the experienced Potito Starace should prove a more accurate test of Soderling's chances this week. Seeded eighth, Starace's experience saw him past the talented young Frenchman Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy in round two as he saved five of the seven break points faced.
Starace also has the confidence of knowing he can beat Soderling on clay. He did it in Barcelona two years ago just weeks before the Swede became the first man ever to beat Rafa Nadal at the French Open.
However Soderling leads 2-1 on the head-to-head and won 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 when they met at the Aussie Open earlier this year. Starace does have the speed and power off the forehand side to cause problems for the sometimes flat-footed Soderling but I cannot see him pulling off an upset here.
Prediction: Soderling in two
