Soderling looks for the upset win in the Indian Wells quarters.

Andy Murray and Robin Soderling do not have a rich history of head to head play against one another as they have not faced eachother since 2006. 

However, the two are preparing for a quarterfinal match in Indian Wells at the BNP Paribas Open.  Soderling does have a career victory over Murray but since these two players have not met since 2006 you really have to question whether the historical head to head series has much insight.

Here it is however and at least all the results are on hard court:

2006 Memphis
Soderling wins 6-1, 6-4
 
2006 San Jose
Murray wins 4-6, 7-5, 6-4

2005 Bangkok
Murray 7-6(3), 7-6(5) Stats

It is safe to say that both players have changed in the past four years so instead of looking at their historical encounters it would be better to look at their recent form.

Andy Murray's play has come under some criticism in Indian Wells although it is hard to tell why.  He has won each set that he has played in and he has yet to be pushed to a tiebreaker in any set.  Here is his compiled game wons to games lost total for the entire BNP Paribas Open: 32-18 (64% winning rate).

Robin Soderling has also been playing well and the quarterfinal looks like it will certainly be a quality match. 

Soderling, like Murray, has cruised through to the quarterfinals without losing a set although he has seen a tiebreaker during his run.

Soderling's compiled total of games won to games lost in the tournament is 37-23 (61.67% winning rate), a ratio that is slightly worse than Murray's.

But when you look at Soderling's road to the quarters he has faced better competition than Murray.  Soderling has defeated Evgeny Korolev, Feliciano Lopez, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and any one of those matches could have been the end of the road for the Swede.  In the case of Lopez and Tsonga, had Soderling lost it would not have been that surprising.

Murray has advanced at the misfortunes of Andreas Seppi, Michael Russell, and a hobbled Nicolas Almagro.  Except for Almagro there is not a threat to upset in that trio and Almagro was playing at less than 100% with his bad ankle.

Even though Murray is winning a higher percentage of games than Soderling, when the relative calibre of the opponents is factored in it appears as though Soderling has been the better player in Indian Wells so far because he is producing similar winning percentages to Murray but against tougher players.

Soderling has come in at +162 (about 8/5) with bet365 and his price certainly looks like it is worth betting.  Murray is priced at -200 (1/2) with Boylesports or Paddy Power for those that want to back him, but in this case we are recommending the upset.

Soderling is certainly capable of beating the top players on tour as he is now a top player himself, ranked 7th.  Soderling has shown on multiple occasions in the last year that even the best player does not have a free ride at his expense so Murray needs to watch out here.

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