LADYDRAGON.COM - Robin Soderling's interview after his win over Potito Starace at the Australian Open 2011

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Wednesday January 19, 2011

Robin Soderling's interview after his win over Potito Starace at the Australian Open 2011

By LadyDragon

Australian Open 2011

MELBOURNE, Australia--(LadyDragon.com)19/01/11--Robin Soderling's interview after his win over Potito Starace at the Australian Open 2011

Q. A good start?

ROBIN SODERLING: Yeah, of course. Winning in straight sets, it's a very good start. I struggled a little bit in the first set. But I think after that I played better and better. At the end, I played pretty good I think.

Q. Of the Grand Slams, the Australian Open hasn't been kind to you. You haven't got past the second round. Do you think you can do better this year?

ROBIN SODERLING: Yeah, I hope so. But I have to take one match at a time.

As you said, I haven't had much success here in the past. That's why, you know, it's even more important to really focus on the next match all the time. Now I got past the first round and I have a difficult match coming up and I have to play well.

If I win this one, I have to take the next match.

Q. Any particular reason why you haven't played well here?

ROBIN SODERLING: Uhm, no. I don't know. It's a surface that I think should suit my game pretty well. I played a couple of good matches. But, as I said, I never had the results.

I don't know why, but hopefully it will change this year.

Q. Is it much different this year under your new coach?

ROBIN SODERLING: No, well, we've been working not for long, but we've been working really good since December. And, of course, in my game there's not going to be any big changes. But we're still working on a lot of details. There's still things I can improve in my game.

I think, you know, already in this couple of weeks I improved. I think I played this year so far really well. Hopefully we can continue to work on it and I'll become a better player.

Q. How do you approach a Grand Slam compared to another tournament knowing it could last for two weeks, have five set matches?

ROBIN SODERLING: Yeah, I think it's different. I think I had some problems with the Grand Slam tournaments in the beginning of my career. As you said, you know, it's over two weeks, and you always have one match, then you have the next day rest. So it's tough to stay focused for two full weeks. Every day, you know, you have to be able to relax between matches.

I think that's what I learned the last couple of years. I think that's why I had more success in these tournaments.

Q. You deal better with the days off in between?

ROBIN SODERLING: I think so, yeah. Because the days off, it's really a matter of trying to relax and rest, you know, because you spend in five set matches a lot of energy, even if you win in straight sets. You really have to recover between the matches. I do it really good right now.

Q. With your improvement in the last two years, do you bring any different mindset to a tournament like this? Do you come here not fearing anyone?

ROBIN SODERLING: No, I'm not fearing anyone, but at the same time I fear all. I know that when I play well, I can beat everyone. But the same time, I really have to play well because last year it really showed. I didn't play well at all and I lost first round.

So I think it's a matter for every player, even the best players, that they really have to stay focused every match. For me that's the most important thing.