In the lead-up to Brisbane International 2015, we revisit some of the tournament’s most memorable moments in our “Best of Brisbane” series.
If they were drawn to play a day later, defending men’s champion Andy Roddick and Swede Robin Soderling would never have had the chance to duel it out in the 2011 men’s singles decider. It was on the eve of the Brisbane floods and it was the big-hitting world No.5 Soderling who would handle the heavy conditions from the impending deluge better to dethrone the former US Open champion. Soderling made inroads on his opponent’s service game early to seal the first set on a sole break of serve before play was briefly halted when chair umpire Fergus Murphy called the players off court after heavy rain outside was blowing through the gap between the stands and the roof. It prompted a heated vent from Roddick who argued play should have been stopped even sooner. It would be the ice-cool Swede who handled the distraction better, finally breaking the defending champion to end a 5-5 deadlock before serving it out for his first hardcourt title.
Re-live highlights of the match below: