In the Zone with Robin Soderling

Training is a way to automation. The more details of an action one internalises and delegates to one's reflexes, the more one gets to concentrate on the higher-level things.

When the execution can take care of itself, the faculty of thought can concern itself with strategy. More attention can be spent on the shots one is facing, the weaknesses of the opponent, what reply to a particular shot to what part of the court would extract a weak reply, and such things.

Indeed are they unlucky, who haven't felt even once in their sporting-life, amateurish or professional, that sense of sporting supremacy.

That sense where, as one searches for things to take conscious care of, one runs into a quickly shrinking list, with an accompanying sense of pleasure and unparalleled happiness. The sense that tells one, that one is "The Alpha."

When in the zone, the body knows what the mind wants to execute. The motor functions work as if dictated by a precise calculating machine. The senses send in accurate data, and consciousness and instinct dissolve into a single totality.

When in the zone, you can beat God on His home turf.

Robin Soderling and Rafael Nadal are names that evoke extreme interest in sporting circles when heard in the same context. One reason has not so much to do with the sport strictly, as with Soderling's on-court behaviour. But what we are interested here is the other reason.

On a certain Sunday, Robin Soderling was in the zone, and he was facing Rafael Nadal on clay.

Prior to the tournament Soderling was seen as yet another player who tried his hand at clay as a way to wile away his time during what is (was) supposed to be an offseason for him. His major successes had come on fast surfaces—indoor carpet and hard-courts.

Though he had won his first three matches at R.G '09 with comfortable-looking scores, including a four-setter against David Ferrer, who by default, given his country of origin, is a formidable opponent on clay to almost anyone, Nadal was considered the over-whelming favourite for that match. The pummeling that Soderling had had at the World No. 1's hand days back did not help him in any way, either.

Facing Soderling's serve, when it clicks, could be a pretty nasty experience. He combined power and smart placement to force Nadal out of the court and extracted weak returns from him.

On the deuce-court, he served mostly wide to the Nadal backhand—his weaker-wing and this gave him the additional advantage that Nadal was forced to take the serve from tramlines or beyond.

On the ad-court, he could serve wide or down the Tee. Wide out, though he was serving to Nadal's forehand, the angle would force Nadal to return from outside the tramlines. Down the tee, he was serving to Nadal's weaker wing.

Though Nadal tried on many occasions to run around the serve down the Tee, it did not work out well.

In most cases, Soderling could extract a mid-court reply—either a slice or a weak stroke that landed short. And his success was mostly due to the fact that he could dismiss them for winners or take the upper-hand in the ensuing rally (with Rafa, the rally is not over with just a single winner).

Nadal uses his serves to get into a good position in the following rally, and not as a primary weapon. Soderling's returns to the Nadal serve were deep and strong on many occasions and especially on those where he had Nadal broken, thus depriving Nadal of his advantage.

Soderling's ground-strokes are pretty flat. On any surface, playing against such a stroke, you will get lesser time to setup. Nadal's game, predominantly built on clay, needs more setup for perfect execution.

What with the clay getting faster, this would indeed annul some of the advantages that render such an approach to clay-court tennis (Soderling's) almost void.

On the other hand, Soderling is tall and a slow-mover and not a great athlete, compared to Nadal. But clay, however faster it has become compared to itself, is still slower than the fast surfaces. This would have given Soderling more time to reach the ball. And when in the zone that is perhaps all it takes.

Add to it the fact that Nadal's looping top-spins bounce to just enough height to be in Soderling's comfort-zone and it shouldn't be a big-surprise that he won most of the rallies that day.

Soderling did really send flying kisses to the lines with his forehand and backhand. That day he did not have a weaker wing. He kept Nadal running from one corner to the other and weathered down his fighting spirit. He startled the defending champion with winners at improbable moments.

He really did beat God that day in His backyard!

Perhaps this match has set the tone for Soderling's career forward, and hopefully it hasn't set the tone for Nadal's.

Final Score : Robin Soderling 6-2 6-7(2) 6-4 7-6(2) Nadal

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The previous article in this series can be read here.

Read Rob's inaugural article to this series here.

Thanks to Rob for the chance to write this, and the support!