Just like in France :P

“Gaudio faces Zabaleta in all-Argentine final

French Open champion Gaston Gaudio has given Swedish teenager Robin Soderling a clay court lesson, winning 6-4, 6-2 to reach the final of the Swedish Open.

Argentine Gaudio will face compatriot and defending champion Mariano Zabaleta, who continued his good run at the tournament with a convincing 6-1, 6-4 win over Chilean sixth seed Fernando Gonzalez.

The final will be played tonight because of rain delays. Play was washed out on Saturday and the start of the semi-finals was delayed on Sunday.

The weather worked to Gaudio’s advantage as it slowed down the court considerably.

Soderling, who is not a natural clay court player, lost his patience in the second set and made too many mistakes to threaten the Argentine.

“It was easier than I had expected,” Gaudio said.

“I thought it was going to be a harder match, considering how well Soderling has been playing.

“I feel that I have the same confidence as during the French Open, but I was probably playing better there.

“Since then almost a month passed without me touching a racket, so it was a bit slow at the beginning of this week.”

Gaudio broke the Swedish wildcard in the seventh game of the first set and then held on to serve to clinch it.

The 25-year-old from Buenos Aires grabbed a double break in the next set for a 4-0 lead and held serve to clinch the match.

His opponent in the final, Zabaleta, should hold no surprises for Gaudio as the pair grew up together.

“We’ve known each other since we were eight or nine-years-old,” Gaudio said.

“Zabaleta comes from a smaller town and used to stay with my family when he trained in Buenos Aires.”

“We often played each other as juniors and it’s always tough to face a friend.”

–Reuters”