Robin Bo Carl Söderling (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈrɔ̌bːɪn ˈsø̌ːdɛɭɪŋ]; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on the ATP Tour, with career highlights including two consecutive finals at the French Open in 2009 and 2010, and a Masters title at the 2010 Paris Masters. He was the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the French Open. Söderling played his last professional match at only age 26 after contracting a lingering bout of mononucleosis.
Söderling began playing tennis at the age of five. He made his first steps in international tennis in November 1998 in Luxembourg when at the age of 14 he played his first official junior tournament, losing the opening match to Fred Hemmes Jr.
Söderling came to prominence at the 2009 French Open, where he became the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the tournament, and the only one to achieve it until Novak Djokovic in 2015. Nadal had previously never lost at the tournament since his debut in 2005 and was the four-time defending champion. Söderling subsequently advanced to the final, defeating two-time semi-finalist Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals and Fernando González in five sets in the semifinals en route before being defeated by Roger Federer in the final.
Söderling reached a second successive French Open final in 2010. He defeated defending champion Federer in the quarterfinals, which ended Federer's record streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. Söderling won the semifinal in five sets against Tomáš Berdych before losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal in the final.
Following injuries and illness, Söderling had not played a tour-level match since he won the 2011 Swedish Open in July 2011, (at which time he was ranked No. 5 in the world, was only 26 years old and was ranked inside the Top 5 for more than 50 consecutive weeks) until his retirement in 2015. He has become active in tennis administration as a tournament director at the Stockholm Open in 2014 and 2015 and produced his own brand of premium tennis gear since 2013.
On 23 December 2015, Söderling announced his retirement from professional tennis.
In his first full year in the junior tour (2000), he achieved four tournament victories and in 2001 attained three more titles in the juniors including the prestigious Orange Bowl, which he won without dropping a set. In the same year, Söderling achieved No. 4 in the year-end ranking.
As a junior Söderling reached as high as No. 2 in the world in singles in 2002 (and No. 11 in doubles).
Söderling turned pro in 2001, but only played 2 tour-level matches. He played in his first ATP tournament in Stockholm, winning his first match 6–3, 6–3 against Ramón Delgado.
Söderling tried to make his name known in the men's circuit in 2002, playing five more ATP tournaments and the second round of the US Open. In the Challenger circuit, he achieved a 20–7 record, and he played in the US Open Junior tournament where he reached the final.
In 2003 the transition to the main tour was completed as he reached the third round at Wimbledon (coming from the qualifying rounds) and reached an ATP final in Stockholm (losing a decisive tie-break there), earning the year-end ranking of 86.
Robin's first ATP title came in 2004 at the Lyon where he beat Belgian Xavier Malisse in the final. He also made the final at Marseille. By the end of the year, Söderling climbed into the world's top 50 in the rankings.
Söderling suffered his first serious injury in 2005, eventually resulting in a knee operation in March. But even though not fit to play many tournaments, he managed to win another title – in Milan (defeating Radek Štěpánek in the final). After a mediocre and injury troubled season from there on, Söderling reached the third round in the US Open before going through another surgery.
Returning in 2006, he bounced back from 100th place in the Indesit ATP rankings to top 50 within three months, even though knee and shoulder injuries still prevented him from playing at his best. He helped the Swedish team with two wins to keep its World Group Davis Cup spot in a play-off in Brazil. During this he earned sufficient ATP points to finish at a then career-high ranking of No. 25 in the world.
In 2007 Söderling made it to the round of 32 at Wimbledon, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in a five-set match. He caused much controversy on the court when he exchanged mocking behaviour with Nadal, tugging on his shorts in the manner Nadal is known for after growing tired of Nadal's slow play at the beginning of the 5th. Söderling did not make it to an ATP final for the first time in five years in 2007, however, he turned out consistent results throughout the year. He missed the last 3 months of the main tour due to a left wrist injury. Söderling missed the Australian Open due to injury. The first tournament he entered in 2007 was the Open 13 Marseille, where he reached the quarterfinals. He then reached the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (Rotterdam), finishing runner-up to Michaël Llodra in the final, 7–6, 2–6, 6–3. The next week he reached another final at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis, U.S. He beat top seed Andy Roddick in the tournament along the way to the final. However, he lost another final in two weeks as he finished runner-up to unseeded Steve Darcis, 3–6, 6–7.
At the 2008 World Team Cup in Düsseldorf on clay, he was undefeated in four singles and four doubles matches. He became only the third player in the history of that event to accomplish that feat since John McEnroe in 1984 and Fernando González in 2003. Winning all of his matches there, he led the Swedish team to victory. In late May he reached the 3rd round in the French Open where he lost against home player Julien Benneteau. At Wimbledon, he lost to Roger Federer in the round of 64 in three straight sets. After disappointing results in both the Beijing Olympics and the US Open, Söderling decided to break up with his trainer Peter Carlsson. He took on former Swedish world number 2 Magnus Norman as support until he appointed a new trainer. With the help of Norman, Robin reached his third final of the year in his native Sweden at Stockholm, but lost to David Nalbandian in a tough match, 2–6, 7–5, 3–6. Three weeks later Söderling finally clinched a final win for his first title in 3 years, and the second on the particular venue, at the Lyon tournament, defeating Julien Benneteau in three sets, 6–3, 6–7, 6–1. On his way to the final he recorded wins over top seed Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, as well as the French number one Gilles Simon in the semi, both ranked in the top 10 ATP South African Airways ranking. With that, Söderling himself climbed as high as No. 18 in the rankings, a new career-best. He finished the year with a then career-high ranking of No. 17. On 4 November he announced that Magnus Norman would be his trainer starting right after his vacation.
2009: French Open final and top 10 debut
With his new trainer, Söderling started the 2009 ATP World Tour at the Brisbane International. He lost in the quarterfinals to Radek Štěpánek, At Heineken Open he lost in the semifinals to Juan Martín del Potro. He was seeded 16th at the 2009 Australian Open and lost to unseeded former finalist Marcos Baghdatis in the second round.