More than four years removed from his last professional match, Robin Soderling officially announced his retirement from tennis on Wednesday. Sidelined in the prime of his career by mononucleosis, Soderling had hoped to one day return to the court until this announcement brought premature closure to a promising career.
“Throughout all these years I believed I should get back to the top of the game in tennis,” Soderling explained, “but now I’ve realized that I won’t be fresh enough to play tennis on the level that I want from myself. For that reason I’ve decided to finish my career as a professional tennis player.”
The 31-year-old Swede is most well-known for making consecutive surprising runs to the French Open final. He famously upset Rafael Nadal during fourth-round action at Roland Garros in 2009, causing one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. Soderling finished runner-up to Roger Federer that season before Nadal exacted revenge on him in the 2010 title match.
His last tournament came at home on the clay courts of Bastad, Sweden in July of 2011. Soderling routed for consecutive opponents in straight sets–including Tomas Berdych in the semis and David Ferrer in the final–to lift the trophy. He was No. 5 in the world at the time.
“Even if my career as a tennis player is over,” Soderling added, “I have a clear view of the future and I’ve got a full schedule for the next few years.”
Among his current tennis-related obligations is the title of tournament director for the If Stockholm Open, a 250-point indoor hard-court stop on the fall swing.
Thank u so much for all your kind words.So sad I won't play professional tennis again, but reading all ur msgs makes me feel a lot better❤️
— Robin Söderling (@RSoderling) December 23, 2015
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