French Open: Soderling lets racket do the talking

Robin Soderling speaks in a soft voice that belies the brutality of a game, which on Sunday booked him the easiest of routes into the French Open second round.

The one player whose resume includes a win against Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros ought to be shouting from the rooftops but Soderling was happy to let his racket do the talking against Frenchman Laurent Recouderc, making him look every inch the hopeful wildcard he was with a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 win.

"That was all last year. Now I have to focus on this year," Soderling told reporters of his career-defining win over the Spaniard in last year's fourth round.

The Swede won the first nine games on Sunday and threatened the humiliation of a rare whitewash before Recouderc discovered some pride and egged on the partisan crowd with a punch to the air as he stopped the rot in game 10.

Recouderc, sporting a shabby grey top and black shorts that gave him the look of a park player, managed four my games before Soderling booked his place in round two after an efficient 94-minute workout.

Anything short from the world number 179 was ruthlessly smashed away by Soderling while the sheer ferocity of the Swede's groundstrokes had the Frenchman peering into the cloudless Paris sky for inspiration.

Soderling thumped 46 winners to Recouderc's 15.

When Soderling arrived at Roland Garros a year ago, he had never reached a Grand Slam quarter-final and looked unlikely to add many chapters to his country's rich tradition in the sport. Yet in the fourth round he achieved the unthinkable.

Nadal had never lost on the Parisian clay and looked as close to unbeatable on the surface as it was possible to be until Soderling came from nowhere to batter the Mallorcan into submission before going on to reach the final.

And though that unforgettable win has forged a renaissance in his career he is loth to dwell on its significance.

"I don't think about it too much. That was all last year. I have to start over again, but of course it's always nice to come back to a place where you did well last year. Gives you good feelings.

"It's always nice to have a quick match in the early rounds. I got to hit a few balls. We had a few rallies, so it was a good match," he added.

The 25-year-old is on a quarter-final collision course with Roger Federer, the man who brought his Paris charge to a halt in last year's final, and the Swiss maestro will have to be at his best to once again resist the Swede's booming forehand.

Cilic made to work hard

Croatia's Marin Cilic was given a tougher workout than he expected before beating Brazil's Ricardo Mello 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the French Open first round.

The 21-year-old 10th seed was in little discomfort as he raced through the first set in 25 minutes in the searing heat of Suzanne Lenglen Court before Mello, who has never won a match at Roland Garros, hit back to take the second.

Cilic, who reached the fourth round last year and has cuttingly pacy groundstrokes from the back of the court, finally ground down the 29-year-old. Mello lashed a forehand wide to hand the Croatian the match after two hours and 26 minutes.

Cilic will face Russian Dmitry Tursunov or Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver for a place in round three.

Gulbis retires

The French Open campaign of Latvia's Ernests Gulbis came to an abrupt end on Sunday when he retired injured from his first-round match against Frenchman Julien Benneteau.

Gulbis, seeded 23rd and a live outside chance after a fine claycourt season, appeared to pull a hamstring as he stood up from doing the splits after he tried to retrieve a shot wide to his backhand.

The big-serving Gulbis called on the trainer at the change of ends when he trailed 6-4 3-1 and he looked in some discomfort during longer rallies on his return.

He finally gave up the ghost when he was broken at the start of the third set, retiring with the Frenchman leading 6-4, 6-2, 1-0.