Robin Soderling Retires Early

There comes a time when our players retire from the field. Robin Soderling has come to such a stage.

He had been a finalist in the French Open two times. However, he has been plagued with an illness for long and that has prompted him to take such a decision. At the age of 31 he has announced his retirement from the game. It is definitely an early age for him to retire. However, the game and careers are not the same for everyone. Soderling has several feats and achievements in his career. He had defeated Rafael Nadal in 2009 at the French Open which had been his greatest feat. He even won the Swedish Open in the year 2011. That year was the last he played.

Robin has since then been down with mononucleosis. With the disease being persistent, Soderling has realized that he would not be able to get back to his winning form in the field. That has prompted him to take such a decision. He has decided to focus on businesses that he runs instead. These facts were stated by him in the press conference that he held where he announced his retirement. He stated that he had been pushing himself to get into top form in the game. After contracting the illness, he has realized that he would not be able to get back to top form. As a result, he took the decision to end his playing career at the professional level. Read more »

Robin Soderling says if he manages to get totally healthy

Robin Soderling says if he manages to get totally healthy, he might still have a decent bit of Tennis left in him.

The Sweden native has been absent from the tour for the last 5 years and has even hinted on occasions in the past that he believes he might never return.

But, in his latest interview given to a sports website, his tone was different and he looked hopeful again.

He was quoted as saying, “For past some time, I am starting to feel really good. I am still not in a position to say I am totally fine, but, I believe I am not that far off. If I keep on improving the way I’ve been, maybe at some stage next year, I would be able to begin full-fledged training.”

“It was always my desire to continue being active on the tour for a long period of time, even in my late thirties, but, my career came to a halt much before that for unfortunate reasons. However, even at this point of time, I don’t think the time has run out for me. I see a lot of veterans going around currently and going well which makes me hope that I can do that as well provided I am in the best condition of my health.” Read more »

Robin Soderling had got himself completely involved in business

A while back, it seemed as if Robin Soderling had got himself completely involved in business and tennis administration and was not even thinking about giving himself a go as a player again.

But, recently, he has hinted that he has not hung his rackets yet and he is looking to make a comeback on the tour in a few months’ time.

According to Soderling, his fitness is getting better eventually and the time is not that far away when he would be able to declare himself fully fit.

Soderling’s story is very, very unfortunate. He would have reached great heights of success by now if not for that glandular fever which hit him 4 years back in 2011 when he was playing brilliant tennis.

Recently in an interview, when asked how difficult it was for him to deal with the situation, Soderling said, “At the start, it was difficult. But, then, I took it in my stride and focussed on the other aspects of my life.”

“When you are active on the tour and play tournaments after tournaments, you start believing that your whole life is about the game and nothing else. But, only when you spend a bit of time away, you realize that there is a beautiful world beyond tennis as well.” Read more »

Sweden has had a very rich tennis history

Sweden has had a very rich tennis history. But, the game is not flourishing in the country these days.

If you have a look at the world rankings in the male’s category right now, you will not find any Swedish player in top 100. The top ranked player is at no. 190.

If you go 4-5 years back, the situation was a lot different. Sweden had a player who was not only capable of getting there in top 10, but, he was also good enough to clinch a slam and that too in the presence of the Big 4.

Yes, it was Robin Soderling. The guy was at his peak towards the end of the last decade.

If you beat Rafael Nadal on clay, you must be playing your top tennis and you must have special quality and he indeed was special, Soderling. What an exciting talent he was.

You talk to any former player and you would get to hear high praises for Soderling.

Mats Wilander was talking to a TV channel the other day and as the name of Soderling came up, he felt a little sad. Read more »

Martina Navratilova dont consider Opposite Gender to be Coach

There have been a lot of talks off late whether the male players should appoint coaches of the opposite gender or not.

Some people have not been in favour of that at all, but, Martina Navratilova, the former Czech Republic legend, has a different opinion.

According to her, it’s about the understanding between the player and the coach. If the two of them understand each other well, the partnership is going to go on for long.

There have not been too many guys in the professional circuit who have dared to take any such step in the recent times.

Andy Murray is the only one who is being guided by a female at the moment and the Scot is doing fine. Read more »

Robin Soderling Struggling with Fitness

Robin Soderling’s life has completely changed from what it was some time back. In 2011, he was a very talented player who had just started to mature and was going up pretty quickly.

Three years down the line, that same Soderling is an administrator who is in charge of the organization of the tennis tournaments in his motherland Sweden.

It’s a really, really sad story. What a start Soderling had to the 2011 season. He had become the champion in 3 out of the 4 tournaments that he had taken part in which had helped him climb the rankings. He had got himself to no. 4 in the world.

His career seemed to be taking off, but, then, a peculiar sort of sickness hit him. It did not seem to be a dangerous sickness at the start, surely not dangerous enough to destroy Soderling’s career.

Soderling even went on to lift one more trophy that season after the diagnosis of that sickness, but, as time went by, he kept getting wakened and his body did not remain in a condition for him to be able to play at the professional level.

His fans, however, remained optimistic about his comeback. He himself was optimistic too. He even attempted to start training earlier this year, but, all in vain. He quickly realized his body was not supporting him.

Recalling those days, Soderling says, “When I was fit, I used to have two rounds of practice, but, now, it’s not possible. After one round, it seems there is nothing there in the tank. My body has given me clear signs that I am done as a player.”

Soderling has shifted his focus on the other things now. Administration is one of them, while, the second is the production of balls.