Robin Soderling has had a great year with wins over the best of ATP such as Roger Federer and Andy Murray to name a few. Soderling beat Federer at Roland Garros this year to reach the finals. Even after a few final appearances Soderling has managed to win only one tournament at Rotterdam this year. He will be playing Albert Montanes from Spain in the first round of the Valencia Open.

Spanish young gun, Albert Montanes has won two titles this year. One at Stuttgart and the other was at Estoril. Montanes performs to best standards on clay as most of the other Spaniards do. He had defeated players such as Juan Carlos Ferrero, Jurgen Melzer and Juan Ignacio Chela to win the title at Stuttgart.

Soderling has a win/loss record for 48/19 this year. On the other Montanes has a win/loss record of 37/22. Both the players have played each other four times before. They have battled it out only as the US Open and the French Open on all four occasions. The last time they met was at this year’s US Open where Soderling won in four tricky sets and marched ahead in the Slam.

Soderling’s serve are well known throughout the world for the amount of strength put in it. The Swede is also famous for his ripping forehands at all the corners of the court. On the other hand Albert Montanes can pace up with his topspin forehands and supporting backhands from the back of the court. If Soderling finds his rhythm he would be able to supersede the Spaniard in two straight sets.