Two days after his stunning French Open win over Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling takes on Nikolay Davydenko with a spot in the French Open semifinals for the taking.
Soderling sent shockwaves through the French Open and tennis world when he upset the world number 1 and four time defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2) on Sunday. Now Soderling faces Nikolay Davydenko in the French Open quarter-finals on Tuesday afternoon.
In the sixth career meeting between the two men, Soderling goes into the series 3-2 up on the head to head statistics. Soderling won their most recent encounter two years ago at the Masters Series Monte-Carlo, coming through 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3.
Davydenko has displayed good form on his trail to the French Open quarterfinals, having missed most of the season prior to this tournament with a foot injury. The 10th-seeded Russian began his French Open campaign with a three-set blowout of Stefan Koubek. He then dropped his opening set to Diego Junqueira in round two before easily taking the next three sets.
Davydenko was most impressive in his two most recent victories. After defeating the in-form Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round, Davydenko hit out in an upset of eighth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
The pressure is really on Soderling. With his new-found "giant killer" fame, all eyes will be on him to see what he will do next after turning the tennis world upside down. It's a tall order, and as a result, Davydenko may just turn out the better.
