Soderling's injury allows Baghdatis to reach Stockholm Open final

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STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Top-seeded Robin Soderling withdrew from the Stockholm Open semifinals Saturday because of an elbow injury, allowing Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus to advance to the final where he will play Olivier Rochus.

The Belgian outlasted Tomaz Bellucci of Brazil 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 to reach Sunday's final at Royal Tennis Hall.

Soderling has been bothered by a sore right elbow since July, when he withdrew from the quarterfinals in Washington.

A trainer treated him several times during the second set in the quarterfinals Friday against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.

"I felt so much pain when I played in Asia. I had an MRI Tuesday and they told me that I have to rest two, three weeks to get well," Soderling said.

Soderling is battling for one of the two remaining spots for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London next month.

He has not decided if he'll play upcoming tournaments in Valencia and Paris.

"I haven't withdrawn from any tournaments so far," Soderling said. "I'll just wait and see and have more medical examinations."

The 10th-ranked Swede, a surprising finalist in the French Open this year, was the only seeded player left in the tournament.

"I'm sorry for Robin first of all," Baghdatis said. "It's not easy to retire, especially when you're playing at home. But obviously I'm happy to get through to the final.

I need some points and my ranking is not so good right now. I knew it would not have been an easy match for me today. He was the favourite, playing with the home support and indoors. So I'm just happy to get through."

Baghdatis has played great all week long, not losing a set in his three matches. This is his best ATP Tour result of the year. Ranked 66th, Baghdatis has won two career titles.

He's looking forward to playing his practice partner on Sunday.

"Rochus is playing great," Baghdatis said. "He's a good friend of mine and we've warmed up together every day this week. It's nice to play a friend in the final."

"I played a good match," he said. "I stayed positive and didn't give up, that's why I won."

The 87th-ranked Rochus, who also has two career titles, broke Bellucci's serve twice early in the decisive set to lead 4-0.

But Bellucci fought back. He broke back twice, cutting the score to 5-3, but Rochus then held his serve to close out the match, winning on his third match point.

"In the third set, when I was leading 4-0, he was taking more risks and it was all working for him," Rochus said. "But then he made a few errors and I played an incredible last game to finish strong. It was a very good match, but tough physically."

Rochus has had a tough year following shoulder surgery.

"My ranking was down at 120," he recalled. "To finish near the top 50 is incredible for me. I've come back really well, playing a lot of Challengers. To come back from so far down is very pleasing and I hope I can continue playing like this next year."

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