Soderling, Berdych Begin Title Quests

© Malaysian OpenRobin Soderling won the Rotterdam title in February.

Top seed Robin Soderling began his quest for a sixth ATP World Tour title with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Thursday at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2010.

Soderling maintained his record of not losing to a player outside the Top 100 since the Australian Open in January, by hitting four aces past No. 106 Roger-Vasselin. He lost 11 points on serve to reach his 10th ATP World Tour quarter-final (or better) this season. He has a 43-15 match record on the season, which includes a second straight Roland Garros final appearance (l. to Nadal).

Soderling will next meet eighth seed Andrey Golubev, who defeated South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 7-6(4) in one hour and 41 minutes. It was Golubev’s 20th win of the season, highlighted by his first ATP World Tour title at the German Open Tennis Championships in Hamburg (d. Melzer).

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“The first round in any tournament is always difficult,” said Soderling. “I am very happy with the performance. My next match is with Golubev. He is a tough opponent and has had a very good year. I watched his match earlier and he was very aggressive.”

Czech Tomas Berdych, who is currently No. 6 in the year-to-date South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, also advanced to the last eight. The Wimbledon runner-up and third seed recorded his second win this year over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-3 in 83 minutes.

Berdych, who beat Istomin in the Wimbledon third round in June, won 72 per cent of service points and hit seven aces. He improved to a 42-18 season mark. Pilot Pen Tennis finalist Istomin dropped to 0-5 lifetime against Top 10 opponents.

"It wasn’t an easy match, but these days no one is easy," said Berdych. "The last time we met it was five sets at Wimbledon, but I found my rhythm very quickly and played well. David [Ferrer] is having a good season and I will try to do the same as I did today, playing my way."

Fifth seed David Ferrer experienced little resistance from 18-year-old wild card Yuki Bhambri for a 6-2, 6-2 win in just 59 minutes. Ferrer improved to a 47-17 match record on the season.