Nadal bows to Soderling for 2nd time

LONDON – Rafael Nadal lost to Robin Soderling for the second straight time, falling 6-4, 6-4 Monday in their opening round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Soderling, who handed the Spaniard his first ever loss on clay at the French Open this year, powered his way through the Group B match by mixing a hard forehand with a solid backhand to keep Nadal running all over the hard court at the O2 Arena.

“He is a big player in this surface, so (it) is difficult,” Nadal said. “I didn’t play really bad. But in the important moments, I didn’t have this calm, this necessary calm, to win these matches against the best players of the world.”

In the late match, Novak Djokovic rallied from a poor start to beat Nikolay Davydenko, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, and move a step closer to the semifinals of the season-ending tournament for the top eight players in the world. (AP)