Robin Soderling was within one more victory of defending his title of ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament after he beat Serbia's Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the 38th ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam
Soderling will face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final showdown on Sunday. Tsonga defeated Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) to advance.
Soderling secured an early break in the first set, but Troicki was able to recover strongly. However the 25-year-old Serbian lost his serve when the score was 5-6 and handed the set to the title holder. In the second set Soderling needed only one break to grab the win.
"I did well today, especially on the important points," said Soderling. "I feel good in Rotterdam and therefore I have a lot of confidence. But you must also play well, everyone is very strong here."
Against Ljubicic Tsonga converted his only break opportunity in the fifth game of the match to take the opening set.
Ljubicic was able to gain the upper hand in the second set, but gave that away while serving for the match. Tsonga secured the victory in the tiebreak.
"My service was my best weapon today," said Tsonga afterwards. "That was the big difference between us. Ljubicic didn't serve like he normally does."