Robin Soderling met with the same fate that had hit a handful of top seeds at the Chennai Open – early exit.

By Bhagya L Ayyavoo

The top Swede was visibly disappointed to be knocked out by world No.100, Robby Ginepri.

“I don’t know how to give the explanation. I think it’s tough for every top seed. It’s always tough for top seeds to play in the beginning of the year. It was a little bit different playing here. The bounce was very high. So two days wasn’t apparently enough to adapt to the court and to the atmosphere,” Soderling said.

After his shock 6-4, 7-5 defeat to American Robby Ginepri, the tournament favourite at the Aircel Chennai Open, Soderling, was left with just one question.

What went wrong? Soderling explained, “Everything. I didn’t feel comfortable at all out in the court. I haven’t felt this bad in a very long time. I tried my best even though I wasn’t playing well at all.”

The world No.8 added, "I wasn’t playing well and felt tough moving on the court. I really had to fight from the first point. I did that but it wasn’t enough.”

Three overhead smashes that he missed while leading 3-0 and 0-40 on Ginepri’s serve in the second set, was a key moment in the match. Ginepri managed to held serve against the faltering Swede to reduce the gap to 3-1. From thereon, it was a complete American show. Soderling blamed himself for not converting the opportunities, “It doesn’t matter whether you’re up 0-40 or whatever. When you have break points, you have to take them. I wasn’t able to play well on all the important points.” 

In a way, the Chennai Open jinx on debuting top seeds continued. Only familiarity can breed confidence in players at India’s tennis hub. For a debutant, it is never easy to relish first shot at success. In the past, Carlos Moya, Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko (withdrew due to injury) to name a few failed to make their debuts count. Soderling admitted he paid the price for landing only a day ahead of the tournament. “You are not really certain about your form and I had only two days of practice. It (the surface) was different compared to when I played last week. The bounce was a little bit higher.” 

And as the match got under lights, it got harder for the Swede as he had trouble sighting the ball. “I had a little bit of problem seeing the ball, especially when it got dark.” 

Soderling’s exit opened up the field in the top half of the draw leaving Chennai without the top seed, yet again. 

Will this jinx end any time soon? Let’s hope the Swede’s words come true, “The top seeds will have great success in the future from the next tournament.”