MELBOURNE, Jan 19, 2010 (AFP) - Swedish eighth seed Robin Soderling was fuming after he became the first top-10 casualty of the Australian Open, bowing out in the first round on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old looked on target for an easy win after he took the first two sets, but eventually lost to Spain's 113th-ranked Marcel Granollers 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Soderling made 67 unforced errors and was scathing in his assessment of his performance.
"No, I started terrible and finished terrible," he said bluntly when it was suggested things were going well early in the match.
"I played a horrible match today and I am terribly disappointed.
"I didn't feel good at all and I didn't play well."
Although the fragile Swede, who has won four ATP titles, pulled out of the AAMI Classic last week because of elbow tendonitis, he said he was 100 percent fit and that the loss had nothing to do with any injury.
Soderling said his frustration had nothing to do with his good form in 2009.
"I would have been annoyed even if I didn't play well last year," he said.
It was the third Grand Slam in a row where Soderling had faced Granollers, who is something of a doubles specialist, but the Spaniard's first ever win over the Swede.
Soderling played the 23-year-old three times last year, including the US Open and Wimbledon, winning all three matches convincingly and dropping just one set to Granollers in those matches.
Tuesday's loss continues a tough start to the year for last year's French Open finalist, having lost in the first round in Chennai and now here.
