Almagro ousts Soderling

Sweden’s Robin Soderling ended his impressive run of form on clay yesterday, losing to Nicolas Almagro in the third round of the 2009 German Open.

Prior to Soderling’s 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Almagro the Swede had won 18 of his last 21 matches, with his only defeats coming in three matches against French Open champion Roger Federer. Soderling had defeated Almagro at their most recent meeting at Wimbledon.

Soderling wasn’t the only seed to fall on Saturday, as Germany’s Phillip Kohlschreiber saw his German Open campaign fall to pieces in a 6-4, 7-6 (8) defeat to Uruguayan qualifier, Pablo Cuevas.

“The longer the match lasted, the better he played,” Kohlschreiber told reporters after the match. “I did not put enough pressure on him, my shots were too short. It was humid and the balls got slower.”

Meanwhile Nikolay Davydenko’s stock at the tournament rose, as the second seed recorded a fluent 6-3, 6-3 win over France’s Jeremy Chardy.

German fans were left with a home player to cheer for after Simon Greul defeated Spain’s Ivan Navarro 7-5, 7-6 (7).