9 January 2011 | Tennis Queensland

Robin Soderling is the 2011 Brisbane International singles champion after defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets today at Pat Rafter Arena.

With four out of their five previous head to head matches going to either three sets or a tiebreak, Roddick and Soderling did not disappoint spectators today.

From the opening ball both players battled for each point and produced big serves at crucial moments.

In the opening set Roddick served two aces to level 1-1 with Soderling responding shortly after with three aces, one recorded at 224kmph,  to take an early 4-1 lead.  The big hitting Swede went on to win the first set 6-3. 

Roddick and Soderling upped the ante in the second set with more big serves and long rallies, including a 27 ball point at 2-2.

Rain interrupted play for aproximately15 minutes at 4-4, 15-15, before the fight continued. At 5-5, 0-40, Roddick produced three big serves to take the game to deuce but Soderling’s form did not falter and he finished with his 16th ace to win the second set 7-5. 

The world No.5 felt he played very well.

“I think I served really well and I played really well. The last two matches have been my best tennis,” the 26 year old said.

Soderling commented on the rain delay which halted play at in the second set, saying “I felt that I had the momentum in my favour, so I tried to stay very focused.”

“I played even better after the rain delay than before.”

The Swedish sensation felt the Brisbane International was great preparation for the upcoming Australian Open.

“I never really played well in Australia before. I didn’t have the results here and now finally I win a tournament, play really good tennis which makes me really happy and gives me a lot of confidence for Melbourne,” he said.

“Now I have the best possible preparation I could have. Five good matches here and then I will have a week of rest and practice and then I will be more than ready to go.”

The tournament’s runner-up Andy Roddick said Soderling’s serve helped him win today.

“He served great today, the conditions were heavy and he served through it better- that was the difference.

“I wasn’t able to get into any return games and he got into two and was able to break in those.

“It was a tough match-up today.”

Although Roddick was defeated, overall he was happy with his preparation for Melbourne.

“I felt like I hit the ball very well this week and I returned very well. I could serve a little better but if there is one thing I don’t worry about so much as the rest, is when it’s not going too well, it is my serve,” the No.2 seed said. 

“All in all with the exception of winning, I don’t know if I would have felt much different about my preparation going in to Melbourne. I feel comfortable, I felt like I got what I needed out of this week.”

Roddick served 12 aces in his match against Soderling, taking his total to 54 for the tournament.

Initially pledging to donate $100 for every ace he served throughout the event to the Queensland flood victims, Roddick announced today that he would double this figure, and urged spectators to give to the appeal. 

$3400 was then donated by the crowd on the conclusion of the match which will be added to the $5000 donated by the tournament.

Both Andy Roddick and Samantha Stosur have also inspired more support for Queensland flood victims, as the governing bodies of the men’s and women’s professional tennis circuits announced late last night that they would donating $10 for every ace served by its players at the combined ATP World Tour/WTA tournaments being played in Australia this month.

Stosur has also extended her support to include any aces she serves at the Australian Open and Medibank International Sydney where she will add to her current donation of $900.

In other finals news, doubles duo Paul Hanley and Lukas Dlouhy defeated No.4 seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau.

The Australian and his new doubles partner won the match after Lindstedt retired at the beginning of the second set due to a left calf muscle injury. Hanley and Dlouhy had taken the first set 6-4.

Hanley was happy with his team’s performance.

“Obviously it is a little disappointing to win the way we did but we played really well in all our matches,” Hanley said.

“Sometimes you don’t always have to play your best tennis to win the tournament and that is what happened today.

“We played some great tennis before today’s final and there are obviously a lot of good things to look back on.”

Hanley and Dlouhy will now travel to the Medibank International Sydney and onto the Australian Open.