STOCKHOLM, Oct 21 - Top seed Robin Soderling got
off to a perfect start in front of his Swedish fans on Wednesday
when he outclassed Ecuador's Giovanni Lapentti 6-3 6-0.
In a packed Royal Tennis Hall, the 25-year-old dominated
with his heavy groundstrokes against Lapentti, who had entered
the draw as a lucky loser.
"He served well in the beginning but the longer the match
went on the more I got into it," said the French Open finalist,
who only lost seven points in his serve during the match.
"It's always fun with a packed centre court during an
evening match," added Soderling, who last cracked the top 10 in
the ATP rankings for the first time.
Soderling broke Lapentti thanks to a missed backhand by the
Ecuadorian in the fourth game and then comfortably held serve to
seal the opening set 6-3. Lapentti crumbled under the Swede's
pressure in the second set and failed to win another game.
Soderling, runner-up here in 2003 and 2008, has now set his
sights on winning his home tournament.
"Of course I'm the favourite now," said Soderling. "I know
that when I play well, I'm hard to beat. But I still have to go
out there and play well during these matches."
Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis beat third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero
6-4 6-2. Second seed Tommy Haas of Germany overcame Frenchman
Florent Serra 6-3 6-4.
(Reporting by Oiver Grassman; editing by Pritha Sarkar; To
query or comment on this story email
sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)