Nadal, Soderling in Abu Dhabi final

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Robin Soderling recovered from a set down to dispatch top-ranked Roger Federer, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, and secure a place in the final of the Capitala World Tennis Championships at the Zayed Sports City Friday.

The Swedish No. 8 will face Rafael Nadal, who advanced after he beat his Spanish Davis Cup teammate David Ferrer, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Soderling and Federer held serve throughout the opening two sets of their match, each winning a tie-breaker, before Soderling broke the Swiss in the third and seventh games of the third set.

Last year, Soderling broke into the top 10 on the back of two wins over Nadal. He first beat him in the fourth round of the French Open to end the Spaniard’s 31-match winning streak, but went on to lose to Federer in the final.

Today’s win over Federer was his first in 13 games.

“I always said the more times I play him, the closer I’ll get, and here I am today. So far so good, but it’s going to be a long season for sure, hopefully I’ll get to play against Roger a few more times,” said Soderling.

“Now when I go out there I feel more confident having beaten all the top guys. I can now believe that I belong up there.”

After losing his first match of the new season Federer praised Soderling’s performance.

“Magnus (Norman), his coach, has been doing a great job with him and I’m sure we will be playing a number of times in the future. It was hard to play him in the very first match of the year, but I had fun,” Federer said. (AP)