Soderling was a late injury replacement in the eight-man Finals field, taking the place of Andy Roddick, and responded with a straight-set win over world No. 2 Rafael Nadal on Monday and the 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory over the third-seeded Djokovic on Wednesday.
Soderling fired 10 aces at Djokovic and dropped just two points on serve in the second set when he won six consecutive games. He improved to 2-0 in Group B and Djokovic dropped to 1-1.
Nadal was to face Nikolay Davydenko later Wednesday. Both are 0-1 in round-robin play, meaning the loser of that match would be eliminated from semifinals consideration.
Group A play wraps up Thursday when Andy Murray (1-1) plays Fernando Verdasco (0-2) and Roger Federer (2-0) takes on Juan Martin del Potro (1-1). Federer's win over Murray on Tuesday assured him of a year-ending world No. 1 ranking.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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