test2wa

Tennis

Robin Soderling declared there is more to come after he became the first player to reach the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

He qualified after a 7-6 (7/1) 6-1 victory over defending champion Novak Djokovic at London's O2 Arena.

The Swede only qualified for the tournament as a reserve after Andy Roddick pulled out injured last week but he has more than proved his credentials with straight-sets victories over first Rafael Nadal and now Djokovic.

And it was confirmed that will be enough to put him through to the last four irrespective of the result of tonight's match between Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko.

Reflecting on his achievement, the 25-year-old said: "It's great. The top eight, top nine guys in the world are here. I won two matches in straight sets against the world number two and number three. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

"So far I'm enjoying it a lot. But there's still at least two more matches to go. I have to win two more matches against great players. I don't think I'm even halfway through."

Soderling first broke into the top 50 in 2004 but stayed largely under the radar until the French Open this summer, when he sensationally became the first player to beat Nadal at Roland Garros before going on to reach the final.

The big-hitting right-hander has since maintained that momentum and made the top 10 for the first time last month.

Assessing the reasons for his giant leap forward, he said: "I think I have a little bit of a different approach to everything this year compared to the other years. I think I'm moving a lot better this year compared to last year and the year before. That's the biggest thing."

A tight first set finally went the way of the Swede in a tie-break after Djokovic had saved three set points in the 10th game.

Having begun slowly, Soderling improved throughout the match, with his huge groundstrokes backing up a fearsome serve, and an out-of-sorts Djokovic had no answer in the second set.

After winning the first game, the Serb, who admitted after his lengthy battle with Davydenko on Monday that he is running on empty, did not get a look in and Soderling wrapped up victory on his second match point when Djokovic dumped a tame volley into the net.

A downbeat world number three gave credit to his opponent and believes the Swede is showing the best form out of the eight players.

"I didn't enjoy playing today's match, that's for sure," said Djokovic. "He was serving really well. All credit to him.

"He has nothing to lose. It's his first (World Tour Finals). He won four straight sets and absolutely deserved to qualify for the semi-finals. I think he's the best player so far in the tournament."

Djokovic will finish the season having played more matches than anyone else on the ATP Tour but he defended his packed schedule.

"I don't think I played too much," he added. "I just played very solid in all the tournaments that I was committed to play. So I played all the tournaments that I had to play."

Federer empathised with Murray having been on the other side of similar matches between the pair in the past.

He said: "I think we've always had up-and-down matches. So I think we both always come out thinking, 'Hmm, I could have done better'. I just think it's our styles of play, that when they collide, you always feel like you can play better.

"I've walked away many times feeling like I could have done so much better. Today it's his turn. So it's unfortunate for him."

For the Swiss star, the main reason to celebrate tonight's result was the confirmation he can no longer be caught by Rafael Nadal at the top of the rankings this year.

Federer has now finished a season on top of the pile for the fifth time in his career and becomes only the second man after Ivan Lendl 20 years ago to regain the year-end top spot.

"Obviously, that was one of my big goals for this season," he said. "And it's one of the greatest performances I think I've achieved.

"Especially after having a rough 2008, coming back this year and being able to dominate and play at the top when the depth in tennis is so, so great at the moment. I think it's a wonderful achievement. It's a wonderful feeling."

Federer faces Del Potro in the last Group A clash on Thursday in a rematch of this year's US Open final, where the Argentinian twice fought back from a set down to stun the five-time defending champion.

The 21-year-old put in a disjointed performance against Verdasco today, dominating large sections of the match but missing the chance to serve it out in the decider.

Del Potro admits he has found it hard adjusting to his new-found fame and he will take to the court on Thursday having won only three matches since that September triumph.

He said of his reunion with Federer: "We're playing a different surface, different moment. We are fighting for two semi (spots). I have to play better than the US Open if I want to win."

Verdasco was left wondering what might have been as he reflected on another close match only two days after forcing Federer to come from a set down to triumph.

"It was a big opportunity," he said. "But it's not enough to play good tennis to beat these guys. You need to play good tennis and also play very good in the very important moments and don't make mistakes."