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ROGERS CUP MEN


August 10, 2010


Robin Soderling


TORONTO, ONTARIO

R. SODERLING/E. Gulbis
4-6, 6-4, 6-4


THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.


Q. Nice ace to finish it out. If only it can be that easy earlier in the match?
ROBIN SODERLING: Yeah, it was a really tough match for me today. For me, first match in any tournament is almost the most difficult one and I think Ernests played very well today. He was serving huge and hitting the ball well.
It was really tough for me to really get into the match. It took quite some time, but I think at the end of the second set and third set I think I played much better.

Q. Do you think having been out a month just taking a break had anything to do with it? You're a little rusty?
ROBIN SODERLING: Yeah, maybe. Even though I played a lot of matches during the summer in Wimbledon and so on and in Paris, it's been a while now. I have been practicing good, but it's a different thing playing matches and practice, so it was really good to win this first one.

Q. You've had pretty good success on hardcourts over the course of your career. What do you hope to accomplish this week that, you know, going forward into the US Open that will help you there and maybe even get you your first Grand Slam?
ROBIN SODERLING: Well, you know, I want to win some matches first. As I said, it's been a while since I played matches, and I want to feel that I'm playing well again.
My confidence is pretty good, because I've been playing a lot of matches and winning a lot of matches against good players this year. It's just that I want to get the match rhythm going.

Q. There's few people on tour who have been able to solve Rafa and Roger, and you're one of them who has been able to. After the French Open final, Borg said that he thought you'd be the No. 1 sooner rather than later. Do you think that there's going to be a time soon where you're going to get to there and where you will consistently be able to beat Roger and Rafa?
ROBIN SODERLING: I hope so. That's what I train for. But, you know, it's a very different thing having both Roger and Rafa at the, playing at the same time, because they're maybe the two best players of all time. Well, they're No. 1 and 3 now in the world, but to me they're 1 and 2.
So it's not going to be easy, that's for sure. But I proved that I've beaten them before, but as you said, it's really a matter of doing it a lot of times, not only once.

Q. There have been so many great Swedish players over the course of tennis history. I wonder how much pressure you feel, if any, at all coming from Sweden. Do you feel pressure coming from home to live up to those great expectations?
ROBIN SODERLING: Um, no, not really. I try not to think like that. Instead, you know, I try to think that hopefully I can inspire kids to start playing tennis again, because when I grew up, there were so many good players playing and they all inspired me, so I really feel -- and I really hope I can do the same, and I think that's what we need for tennis in Sweden.

Q. I have two questions. First, I heard that Magnus Norman had surgery. How is he doing?
ROBIN SODERLING: He's doing better. Yeah, he had the surgery right after Wimbledon, and I think he's recovering well and he will come for the Open.

Q. I'm doing a piece on social networks, like Facebook and Twitter. I know it's very popular among players. You're on Twitter. What do you like about that?
ROBIN SODERLING: Well, I think it's an easy and nice thing to do for all the fans, because I notice now that there's actually a lot of people who like reading my Twitter, so, I mean, it only takes a minute for me every day, so I think it's a nice thing to do for the fans.

End of FastScripts




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