Michael Llodra is well on his way to fulfilling his new year's resolution for 2008. Regarded hitherto
as a doubles specialist, the Frenchman resolved to focus on singles as the new season got under way.
Employing his serve-volley style to great effect, he immediately captured the Adelaide title and he has
now added the third title of his career with victory over Robin Soderling at the World Tennis Tournament
in Rotterdam.
Soderling and Llodra, ranked at 58 and 59 in the world respectively, were surprise finalists in a tournament
that bizarrely saw all eight seeds go out before the quarter-final stage. "I came here this week and saw
the draw and knew it would be difficult and so it is unbelievable I'm standing here with the trophy," said
Llodra. "This win gives confidence - at the end of February I've won two titles already. Also today, after
losing the first set and surviving two break points in the opening game of the second one, I have the feeling
I played one of my best matches on the tour. I knew that Robin might get a bit nervous when you put him under
pressure and therefore I changed my game a bit during the match and pressurised his second serve and that
finally gave me the win."
In his first year as a pro, Llodra rose over 100 places in the ATP Rankings and qualified for the
Australian Open and Wimbledon. But the taste of success in doubles became addictive after he teamed up with
Fabrice Santoro. The pair captured the Australian Open title (twice), emerged victorious in the 2005 Tennis
Masters Cup in Shanghai and enjoyed considerable success in Davis Cup competition. They weren't exactly
barren years in singles competition - he reached the fourth round at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows in
2004. He also captured his first career ATP title in 's-Hertogenbosch during the same year. However, his
serve-and-volley style, modelled on that of his idol Stefan Edberg, naturally lent itself to the doubles
game and he helped himself to another Grand Slam title in 2007 when he joined forces with Arnaud Clement
to defeat defending champions Bob and Mike Bryan in the Wimbledon final.
Llodra supports soccer team Paris Saint-Germain, the club his father, Michel, played for. His current
coach is former ATP pro Lionel Roux, but Llodra learned serve-volley from George Deniau, who also
guided Guy Forget and Jacob Hlasek. Off-court, he is notorious for his locker room pranks.
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