Robin Soderling Comes Through Marathon With Hewitt

Robin Soderling has to come from two sets down in his second round match as he was made to fight off former champion Lleyton Hewitt.

While play was halted around the rest of Wimbledon the fifth seed got his match underway under the roof of Centre Court against the gritty Australian.

Hewitt is currently ranked at 130 in the world after a string of injuries has seen him on and off the tour in recent years.

But the thirty year old rolled back the years on Centre Court as he took the match to the big hitting Soderling - fighting back from an early break down to force the tie break.

The tie break was as close as the opening set but the Aussie edged it to take the opener - much to the delight of the crowd.

Hewitt broke in the eighth game of the second set as he produced some stunning tennis and Soderling looked to be well and truly on the ropes.

Despite cries of ‘let’s go Lleyton, lets go’ ringing around Centre Court the former world number one just couldn’t find a way through the Soderling serve as the Swede seemed to pick up the pace.

The third was looking like it was heading for a breaker when a poor service game from Hewitt 5-6 down handed Soderling the break, the set and a lifeline in the tournament.

Soderling had never come back from two sets down in his career but when he took the third the Centre Court crowd were treated to a final set showdown.

And when the fifth seed broke Hewitt early to lead 2-1 it looked like the Aussie’s chances were slipping away. But Hewitt has other ideas as he broke back immediately to level at 2-2.

But Soderling secured a second break to win the match 6-7 (5-7) 3-6 7-5 6-4 6-4 in just under four hours.

Speaking to the ATP after the match Soderling said: You just have to start over, like trying to take one point at a time and see it as a new match; there's still a chance to win.

"I didn't want to go off the court feeling that I didn't give a hundred per cent. Win or lose, doesn't matter.

"I tried not to think about the scoreline. Instead, I tried to keep looking forward. I know I was playing pretty well. I served well.

“And if I could just start to move a little bit better, start to return a little bit better than the first two sets, I knew I had a good chance."

Soderling will now face either Igor Andreev or Bernard Tomic in the third round.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw