Soderling Hoists Marseille Trophy
Soderling overcomes Cilic to claim his third title of the season (Foto: eurosport.com)
World No. 4 Robin Soderling has claimed his third title of the season, beating Marin Cilic in three sets after conceding the opener at the Open 13.
The 26-year-old Swede grabbed his second straight title of the year, after the one won at the Rotterdam tournament last week and is now at a 17-1 match record of the season. Cilic managed to push the opener into tie-break which he finally won 10-8. Soderling, who hadn’t dropped any set the whole week, stunned the Croatian with a two-set comeback to clinch the victory and get 250 points ATP. He would win the next two sets apparently with ease but the Swede made a lot of effort in order to triumph in Marseille. Alexandr Dolgpolov remains the only player who beat Soderling this season, the Ukrainian having defeated the Swedish player in the fourth round of the first major of the season, Australian Open.
On the other side, Marin CIlic was fighting for his first title of the season. The Croatian didn’t make a good figure in his country at the Zagreb Indoors. Florian Mayer defeated Cilic in the quarter finals. The Croatian left Marseille with 49,180 euro and 150 points ATP but remains 28 in the world rankings. As for Soderling, he received the big prize 93,450 euro and 250 points ATP.
Soderling’s route through the final included crucial wins over Dmitry Tursunov whom the Swede beat in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1 in the semi finals, home favorite Michael Llodra, who left Marseille with a 1-6, 4-6 loss to Soderling and another crowd favorite, Nicolas Mahut whom the world No. 4 edged 7-6, 7-6 in the second round.
Concerning Cilic’s way, the Croatian reached the final after beating another Russian, Mikhail Youzhny, in three sets, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5. But important wins have also been obtained against second favorite in Marseille Tomas Berdych. Cilic beat the Czech in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. The opener found the Croatian ousting Stephane Bohli of Switzerland 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, while the second round brought him a crucial victory over German Pgilipp Petzschner whom Cilic defeated 7-6, 6-3.
This is also the first time that Soderling wins three titles in the same season, but he is surely still counting.
