Rotterdam:
Robin Soderling rushed through for a 64-minute victory into the semi-finals of the Rotterdam Open on Friday as the 2009 Roland Garros finalist began to re-discover his game.
The fourth-seeded Swede crushed Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-0, 6-1 with six aces and five breaks of serve.
Soderling joined top seed Novak Djokovic in the last four at the Ahoy arena a day after the Serb moved through automatically when opponent Florian Meyer of Germany withdrew 24 hours before the contest with a hamstring pull.
The last two members of the tournament top four were making bids for a seeded clean-sweep.
Number two Nikolay Davydenko was facing Austrian Jurgen Melzer while French third seed Gael Monfils was up against 2007 champion and sixth seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
Soderling had no complaints about his quick-fire victory, saying he finally feels his game after a slow start in 2010.
The ATP number eight came to the Netherlands in the wake of first-round defeats to start the current campaign in Chennai and Melbourne.
"This is the first time in months that I've felt like I was playing my best," said Soderling, who awaits either Davydenko or Melzer.
"I had a long 2009 and didn't get much chance to rest. But I've rested now and had some good practices.
"I played much better today, my game feels like it's going in the right way. I've finally started feeling good and just hope it gets better and better.
Soderling has now won his last four meetings with the 38th-ranked Benneteau after losing their first two.
The Swede nudged his 2010 mark to 3-2 as his game picks up momentum. So short and sweet was his victory that he headed straight back to the practise court.
He now stands 7-2 in Rotterdam after playing the 2008 final against Frenchman Michael Llodra.
The fourth-seeded Swede crushed Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-0, 6-1 with six aces and five breaks of serve.
Soderling joined top seed Novak Djokovic in the last four at the Ahoy arena a day after the Serb moved through automatically when opponent Florian Meyer of Germany withdrew 24 hours before the contest with a hamstring pull.
The last two members of the tournament top four were making bids for a seeded clean-sweep.
Number two Nikolay Davydenko was facing Austrian Jurgen Melzer while French third seed Gael Monfils was up against 2007 champion and sixth seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
Soderling had no complaints about his quick-fire victory, saying he finally feels his game after a slow start in 2010.
The ATP number eight came to the Netherlands in the wake of first-round defeats to start the current campaign in Chennai and Melbourne.
"This is the first time in months that I've felt like I was playing my best," said Soderling, who awaits either Davydenko or Melzer.
"I had a long 2009 and didn't get much chance to rest. But I've rested now and had some good practices.
"I played much better today, my game feels like it's going in the right way. I've finally started feeling good and just hope it gets better and better.
Soderling has now won his last four meetings with the 38th-ranked Benneteau after losing their first two.
The Swede nudged his 2010 mark to 3-2 as his game picks up momentum. So short and sweet was his victory that he headed straight back to the practise court.
He now stands 7-2 in Rotterdam after playing the 2008 final against Frenchman Michael Llodra.
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