Soderling is expected to make the quarters according to many but that would be precedent setting in Melbourne.
Robin Soderling, according to Stan James' list of favorites, is considered the fifth favorite to win the Australian Open title behind Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. However when one looks at how poorly Soderling has done in previous seasons, it could be argued that he is not likely to make it that far at all.
Soderling has just two individual match-wins in Melbourne in his career and while it is the case that he is playing the best tennis of his life right now, based on his total lack of success down under you have to be skeptical about his potential to be a damaging player next month.
Few would argue that Soderling will be the winner in Australia but many might argue that he's bound for the quarters. However, the argument for Soderling making the quarterfinals likely rests on the fact that he won ATP Paris in late 2010 to pick up his first Masters level title.
While that was an impressive feat for Soderling he followed it up with a poor showing at the ATP World Tour Finals that saw him fail to make it out of the group stages. Also in 2009, after Soderling made the World Tour Finals semis, he still failed at the Aussie a couple months later as Marcel Granollers took him out of the draw in a first round 5 setter.
Soderling is a tall player, 6'4", and his conditioning is not considered to be on the same level as other top players.
Playing in the heat of the Australian summer doesn't work well for Soderling and that could be a factor in his 2-5 record from Melbourne in his career.
The Australian Open starts on January 17th and continues until January 30th. Soderling looks as though he will be the 5th seed in the event although the seeds are not known at this point.
