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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2011

Robin Soderling

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

R. SODERLING/G. Muller
6-3, 7-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What were some of the positives you could take out of the match tonight?
ROBIN SODERLING: Well, it was a different match, you know. He played real aggressive and served well. Always against him the margins are very small.
But I think I stayed focused the whole match, was moving pretty well. It was a pretty good match. I didn't spend too much energy. I won in three straight sets.
I'm feeling good.

Q. With five matches to go before a possible final, what is your strategy? Do you have a strategy worked out or do you take it one match at a time?
ROBIN SODERLING: No, of course you have to focus on one match at a time. But now after the matches, it's good that I didn't spend five hours on the court. Instead, you know, I played two matches and both went to three sets, straight-set matches.
I played very good, so I'm not feeling tired at all, which is very good now coming into the third round.

Q. This is unchartered territory for you at Melbourne Park. Why have your past campaigns been derailed so quickly?
ROBIN SODERLING: I don't know. I got this question I don't know how many times. I don't know. That's my answer (smiling).
I really feel that I can play well on every surface. So here the conditions and the surface in Melbourne should suit my game very well. And I think, you know, I missed the tournament here a couple of times, and then I played some pretty good matches, but the result hasn't been good.
But hopefully, you know, now I feel like I'm playing really well and I have a lot of experience from doing well in other Grand Slams. So hopefully, you know, this year it will change.

Q. Do you feel like your preparations this year were a little bit more involved? Do you feel this has helped your run into the tournament here?
ROBIN SODERLING: Yeah, I think, first of all, I had a great off-season. Even though it was short, I've been practicing well and been really focused to do well here in Australia. That's a little bit what's missing so far for me.
Of course, I had a great start. I played really well in Brisbane. I decided to go early to Australia this time instead of going to Chennai or Doha. I played well and had a good week here of practice. I'm feeling really good.

Q. Why did you decide to go to Brisbane?
ROBIN SODERLING: Well, I tried everything. You know, I did different things every year. But this year I really felt like I wanted to give it a really good chance to do well here and I wanted to come here early and have at least two weeks before the tournament, you know, to give myself time to really find my form and play well.
But I think I played really well from the first day I arrived in Brisbane from the first match and then the whole tournament. So I have a lot of confidence. I really showed that I can play well down here.

Q. Do you know much about your next opponent?
ROBIN SODERLING: I don't think we ever played before. I might be wrong. My memory's not so good. But he's a great player. We practiced a couple times. He's playing really fast and close to the baseline. He's been on the tour for quite some time, so he's very experienced.
It's going to be a tough match.

Q. You obviously overtook Andy Murray's No. 4 ranking coming into this tournament. Is that a mere statistic or does that give you a bit of an edge or a confidence boost?
ROBIN SODERLING: Well, of course, it's always nice to be No. 4 in the world. It's something that many players will never achieve in their careers.
But I'm trying to not be too focused on the rankings. I try to be focused on my game, trying to, uhm, practice hard and trying to improve. I think if I can do that, then I think I have a good chance to do really well and climb up the rankings. But it's also a matter of how the other guy's playing. I can still play well, but a few guys playing even better. I have to stay focused on myself first.

Q. How do you feel the surface and conditions here might suit your game or not suit your game?
ROBIN SODERLING: No, as I said, I think I can do well on any kinds of surface: slow, fast, indoors, outdoors. The things with Melbourne, the thing I struggle with a little bit before is that the conditions are changing a lot here. One day it's 30 degrees, the next day it's 20 and windy, sunny, cloudy. So that's tough. But I think it's tough for everybody.
Again, you really need to stay focused and really think about your own game instead of what's happening outside.

Q. What do you invest your prize money, like property or shares?
ROBIN SODERLING: Well, I try to do a little bit different things. I'm not the one who's doing my finances. I have some properties. I have some stocks, some different things. It's just a matter of saving it for maybe using it after your career.

End of FastScripts

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