Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Swedish tennis player Robin Soderling.
Last updated on December 3, 2024.
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 15 November 2010. His career highlights include reaching two consecutive finals at the French Open in 2009 and 2010, and an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the 2010 Paris Masters. He was the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the French Open. Söderling played his last professional match at only age 26 after contracting a lingering bout of mononucleosis.
I love to train hard. My only answer to setbacks was pushing harder.
I feel really good, then I start to practice, and then I think maybe in a couple of months I can come back and I really believe it. Then I do a bit too much and wake up one morning not feeling well again.
Then after a few years I felt good in daily life but as soon as I started to push my body the symptoms came back and I had no strength at all. I got so tired. After an easy practice session all I wanted to do was sleep for days.
When I got on court I felt really confident, really good but I also felt like there was no pressure. No-one expected to me to win so I tried to see it as there's only an upside.
I am really proud of other things in my career: being in the top five, reaching the final of a grand slam twice. I'm actually even more proud of making it to the French Open final in 2010 than the previous year.
I used to be able to practice, get a massage, have something to eat and feel ready for the rest of the day.
No one gives you information and tools on how you are supposed to handle the pressure both on and off the court.
I was in bed with cold sweats, all different symptoms. It was really terrible for a long time, and when the fever went away there was all this weakness and tiredness.
I was the perfect person to have a burnout because I was not listening to my body at all.
There's no shame in speaking about mental illness. It's a very common problem in today's society, no matter if you're playing sports or working in another field. It's something that needs to be spoken about a lot more.
All my life, I've been focusing on tennis, training, getting results. Jenni and I wanted to have kids pretty early, but we waited. We always thought it was better in the future. Now I don't understand why we ever waited.
In 2011, I was in the best physical shape of my life. I was one of the five best players in the world and I had won four titles by the end of July. But from one day to another, I couldn't take a step. I couldn't breathe.
For a long time I couldn't even watch tennis on TV because I missed it too much. I was bitter and upset because it didn't seem fair. I was young and it was tough to see players that I played against my age, even older performing well.