Soderling upset Murray, reaches Indian Wells semis

Robin Soderling upset Andy Murray 6-1 7-6 and reached the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells where he will play against Andy Roddick, who beat Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-5.

Soderling´s booming serves and powerful groundstrokes gave Murray no chance to work his way into the match.

Robin steamed through the first set against Andy in 36 minutes, taking a 5-0 lead before an out-of-sorts Murray managed to hold serve.

"He played very well to start, and I didn't," said Murray. "I didn't move particularly well. I was hitting the ball really short, and he's obviously got a big game and he was able to dictate all of the points.

"So from my side it was poor, but he hit the ball really big from the back of the court and served well when he needed to."

Soderling said his level in the opening set was "really good."

"I didn't make any mistakes at all, I think. I was moving pretty well, serving well, and I went for my shots and in the right moments."

Soderling was on his way with a break for a 2-1 lead in the second set. But Murray fought off three match points against his own serve in the ninth game.

Serving for the match in the next game, Soderling instead surrendered the break as Murray belted a backhand winner down the line.

That seemed to give Murray new life and he fired three of his 10 aces in the next game to hold serve.

"I was a little bit nervous going out serving for the match at 5-4," Soderling said. "I got up to 30-love, and then I don't think I really did anything wrong. So all credit to him, because he played well where he needed it the most."

In the tiebreaker Soderling took control quickly, taking a 3-1 lead. He gave himself a fourth match point with a backhand down the line for 6-4 and Murray netted a service return to end it.


Source Reuters/AP
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