Nadal, Soderling Clash Set For QFs

© Getty ImagesRobin Soderling advances to the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.

Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling will face off in a rematch of last month’s Roland Garros final after the pair reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in contrasting fashion, Monday at The Championships.

After rallying from two-sets-to-one down in his past two matches, World No. 1 Nadal cruised past Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Meanwhile, World No. 6 Soderling came through his first real test of The Championships, overcoming ninth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

"Gonna be a really tough match," said Nadal. "I think probably is one of the more difficult opponents that you can play on all surfaces today, but especially here. I think he's playing with big confidence, big serve, perfect flat shots and long from the baseline. So he's playing great.  Gonna be very difficult match for me I think. Hopefully for him, too."

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Nadal needed to play two five-setters to reach the Round of 16 for the first time at a major, but had little difficult against Mathieu, whom he had defeated in their nine previous meetings. The second-seeded Spaniard converted on five of his 15 break point chances and hit 36 winners to maintain his perfect record against the Frenchman.

"I think I played really well, but I was playing well the last matches too," said Nadal. "But the opponent [has] different characteristics, so for my game, probably was a little bit easier to play because I have more rallies from the baseline. The serve was a little bit easier to return than the last two matches.  I was playing well from the baseline the last days, but I didn't have the chance to play."

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The 24 year old, who won the Wimbledon title on his last visit to the All England Club two years ago, is now through to the quarter-finals for his fourth straight time at the grass-court Slam.

In Soderling’s fourth-round match, the Swede required five sets and just over three hours. He came within two points of defeat while serving in the 10th game of the decisive set, but held and went on to break Ferrer at love in the next game before claiming his fifth straight victory over the Spaniard.

"I think I played okay," said Soderling. "I think I played a little bit better in my previous matches. And even though I felt I was hitting the ball well, but I didn't return so well. My first serve percentage wasn't good enough. Apart from that, I think it was a good match. He played well."

Soderling had made his way comfortably into the fourth round, spending the least amount of time on court of the men remaining in the draw – four hours and 51 minutes – as he posted straight-sets wins over Robby Ginepri, Marcel Granollers and No. 25 seed Thomaz Bellucci.

The 25 year old, who reached the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time last year, is the first Swedish quarter-finalist at Wimbledon since Jonas Bjorkman in 2006. Bjorkman lost in the semi-finals to eventual champion Roger Federer.

Soderling remarked on his improved results on grass: "I think that my game overall is improving. I think I always could do well on any surface, grass included, so I'm playing better and better. I think I can do well, again, on any surface."

Nadal holds a 4-2 head-to-head record against the Swede, including a five-sets win in the Wimbledon third round in 2007. He dispatched Soderling in straight sets in last month’s Roland Garros final.

"It's gonna be an extremely tough match," said Soderling. "He's World No. 1. We played a lot of times and had a lot of tough matches. Again, it's a quarter-finals in a Grand Slam. It's gonna be tough for sure. But, you know, I think it's definitely easier to play him on any other surface than clay."