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Nalbandian to take on Soderling in Stockholm final

Sat 11th, October 2008

Stockholm, Sweden (Sports Network) - David Nalbandian of Argentina advanced to the final of the Stockholm Open on Saturday and will have to face crowd favorite Robin Soderling for the title.

The top-seeded Nalbandian blitzed through his fourth straight opponent this week with a 6-2, 6-1 thumping of Finland's Jarkko Nieminen. Nalbandian hasn't dropped a set in four matches and has lost only 15 games in that span.

Nieminen, though, was able to do something no one else has this week -- break Nalbandian's serve. The third seed did just that in the first set, but the former Wimbledon runner-up and Tennis Masters Cup champ was able to break his opponent six times to finish off the Finn in just 64 minutes.

"I think I played a great match, didn't miss one shot in two sets," said a confident Nalbandian. "I hope to play the same way tomorrow."

He'll have the crowd against him on Sunday, as the fourth-seeded Soderling needed a mere 44 minutes to post a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Japanese wild card Kei Nishikori to reach the final of his native country's tournament for the second time.

Soderling lost to American Mardy Fish in the 2003 Stockholm final -- his first career ATP title match. Sunday will mark his eighth final and third this year. He's still trying for his first title of 2008, having lost to Frenchman Michael Llodra at Rotterdam in late February and to Belgian Steve Darcis the following week in Memphis.

The Swede is just 2-5 lifetime in title matches, winning tournaments at Lyon in 2004 and Milan in 2005.

Nalbandian, meanwhile, is 8-8 all-time in ATP finals, including 1-1 this year. He won the crown at Buenos Aires in late February and lost in the title match the following week in Acapulco.

Sunday will mark the sixth meeting between Nalbandian and Soderling. The Argentine won four of the previous five, including a five-set Davis Cup quarterfinal match earlier this year.

The winner will earn a first prize of $154,000.

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