Slow-burner Soderling proves he is no imposter

Until this year Robin Soderling's career could be described as steady rather than spectacular, a solid pro but one unlikely to really worry the top guys.

His 7-6, 6-1 victory over world number three Novak Djokovic on Wednesday at the ATP World Tour Finals, following on from his straight sets defeat of number two Rafael Nadal on Monday, was proof that he has matured into a major force in the game.

By defeating Djokovic he became the first player to reach the semi-finals at the elite year-end showpiece in London's spectacular O2 Arena -- not bad considering he is only competing after Andy Roddick's withdrawal because of injury.

There is no doubting, however, that the world number nine fully deserves to be mixing it with the superstars of the sport at the biggest indoor tennis event staged. He is no imposter.

While a fatigued Djokovic seemed barely able to stand by the end of the Group B clash, much of that was to do with the pummelling handed out by Soderling, who cracked down 10 aces and belted his forehand with extraordinary power and precision.

As Soderling proved at the French Open in June when he ground four-times champion Nadal into the Parisian clay for an amazing fourth-round victory that made the world sit up and take notice, he has the weapons to become a fixture in the top 10.

"I've only won two matches so far here but it's against the world number two and number three," Soderling told reporters. "I don't think I've ever done that before, back to back.

"Except for the grand slams this is the biggest tournament of the year. It's very good, but there's still more to come.

"So far I'm enjoying it a lot. But there's still at least two more matches to go. I hope to do really well in those two."

ACQUIRED PATIENCE

Soderling was tipped as the man to rejuvenate Swedish tennis when he broke into the top 100 before his 20th birthday in 2003 but it took him another three years to crack the top 30 and two more after that to rise into the top 20.

Unlike ice cool Swedish greats such as Bjorn Borg and Stefan Edberg, the 25-year-old Soderling can be a spiky character on court, occasionally letting his temper get the better of him.

He has even been known to get under the skins of his opponents from time to time and angered Nadal by imitating the Spaniard's short-tugging routine at Wimbledon two years ago.

Soderling, however, has matured in the past two years and as he demonstrated on Wednesday against Djokovic, one of the game's most intelligent tacticians, has acquired the patience to indulge in long, cagey rallies before launching his weapons.

"I've tried to work a lot on it (my temperament)," Soderling said when asked the secret of his rise up the rankings. I think I have a little bit of a different approach to everything this year compared to the other years."

His surprising progress here could put him in line for another meeting with Federer, whom he lost to in the final at Roland Garros and who he has an ugly 0-12 career record against.

"You know, I played Roger many, many times. Every time he beat me but I think I got closer to a win, so we'll see," he said of that scenario.

After beating Nadal and Djokovic, it would be unwise to dismiss his optimism as folly.