Thailand Open 2008 tournament begins

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Thailand Open 2008 tournament begins  
Bangkok Post: 23 Sep 2008
Soderling sets pace as Bangkok Open starts

Sixth seed Robin Soderling put a month's worth of misery behind with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi to move into the second round of the Thailand Open at Muang Thong Thani on Tuesday.

Sweden's Soderling had put his racket away for a week after going out in the US Open first round on the heels of a similar opening disappointment at the Beijing Games.

But his win over his 207-ranked Pakistani opponent at the Impact Arena renewed the confidence that he has recently been missing.

"It felt good to get back on court, I feel really refreshed and ready for the indoor season," said the winner, ranked 34th and a back-to-back runner-up at Rotterdam and Memphis just seven months ago.

Soderling has a reputation as a terror on fast indoors and finds the court at the Impact arena to his liking.

"It's medium fast and fair to all styles. I won comfortably on it and I'm quite pleased with how I played," he said.

Soderling said that his opponent, the only Pakistani on the ATP, put up a good showing at an event which only began on Tuesday as competitors arrived from Davis Cup play half a world away.

"He played a lot better than I would of expected," said the winner, who improved to 33-17 this season.

"He served well and played tough. But I'm just so glad to be playing matches again and I got a good win."

Soderling converted on three of eight break point chances against Qureshi, competing in his fourth ATP event this season with one victory.

Soderling's win was his first since a Cincinnati third round in August. The winner said his rest after the US Open made him eager to return to the game.

"I just took a break and rested for a week. Now I'm relaxed and ready to play again."

Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili advanced to the second round over German Michael Berrer, 6-4, 6-3.

Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic is playing as top seed, with his Melbourne finals opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France seeded second. (dpa)