Soderling moves on in Lyon

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:06

The fourth-seeded Swede has not won a championship since January 2005 in Milan but he likely comes into this event with some confidence as he won here in 2004 to claim the only other title of his career.

The 24-year-old Soderling’s next opponent is Belgian qualifier Christophe Rochus, a 6-2 6-4 winner over Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.

Backed by the partisan crowd, the contingent of French players here are enjoying a good deal of success thus far.

Unseeded Julien Benneteau continued the trend Wednesday as he became the first player to reach the quarter-finals, posting a 6-2 6-2 upset of fifth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo.

French wild card Josselin Ouanna joined his countryman in the round of eight with a 6-3 1-6, 6-3 triumph over Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti.

Eighth-seeded local Paul-Henri Mathieu picked up a 6-3 6-4 first-round win over Argentinian Guillermo Canas, and number four Gilles Simon followed suit by rallying past Juan Monaco 2-6 6-4 6-1.

Simon comes into this tournament off a runner-up effort last weekend at the Madrid Masters, where he stunned world number one Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. A three-time champion this season, the 23-year-old Frenchman has reached a career-high ranking of 10th.

Top seed Andy Roddick advanced on Tuesday and will face fellow American Robby Ginepri in the second round on Thursday.

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