Filed under: Australian Open, WTA, ATP
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- French Open finalist Robin Soderling is out of the Australian Open following the biggest upset to date in the year's first major.
Alexandr Dolgopolov stopped Soderling's eight-match winning streak with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory Monday, reaching the quarterfinals in his first trip to Melbourne Park.
The fourth-seeded Soderling hadn't dropped a set during his surge that started with his run to the final at the Brisbane tuneup event. He dominated the opening set but couldn't keep it up against the 22-year-old Ukrainian, making his fourth appearance in a major.
Dolgopolov's cross-court backhand to bring up his first match point was typical of the 50 winners he hit against a stunned Soderling, the highest of the seeded players knocked out of the men's draw.
Soderling saved three match points, but his run came to an end with another unforced error, his 51st. He was a win away from completing a set of quarterfinals appearances at all four majors.
Dolgopolov earned nine breaks, including three times after conceding a break himself in the fifth set. The 26-year-old Soderling had dropped his serve only twice this year.
"I'm trying to get his weak side and play uncomfortable for him -- then if I have chances to make winners, that's my game," Dolgopolov said. "He has one of the hardest balls on tour but I was able to read his serve pretty well.
"I saw his shots pretty well, so it paid off."
He next plays either 2010 finalist Andy Murray of Britain or No. 11 Jurgen Melzer.
Dolgopolov said his father worked as a coach for the likes of Andrei Medvedev, so he sometimes hit with the players when they were practicing.
"For sure I had some good times. I was a bit maybe annoying for some players to play with me," he said. "It was nice to start a tennis career like that."
No. 2-ranked Vera Zvonareva continued her roll toward a third consecutive Grand Slam final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Iveta Benesova.
Zvonareva, who lost the Wimbledon final to Serena Williams and the U.S. Open final to Kim Clijsters last year, moved into a quarterfinal match against No. 25 Petra Kvitova, who rallied to beat No. 22 Flavia Pennetta 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Andy Roddick's fourth-round 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 loss to 19th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka on Sunday night means there's no Americans in the men's or women's quarterfinals.
The eighth-seeded Roddick was the last American man standing. The women were out before the third round ended.
Source: http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2011/01/23/robin-soderling-upset-at-australian-open/
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