PARIS (Reuters) - Twice runner-up Robin Soderling set up a return match with champion Rafa Nadal after battering home hope Gilles Simon 6-2 6-3 7-6 in the French Open last 16 on Monday.
The Swedish fifth seed, who lost to Nadal in last year's final having beaten him in the fourth round in 2009, quickly silenced the fervent French crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier with an early break and never looked back.
There was little guile to Soderling's play, just relentless accuracy and even a third visit from the physio in three matches to treat a finger blister failed to slow him down against the 18th seed, although he labored to close out the tiebreak.
The quarter-final with five-times winner Nadal comes as the Spaniard struggles for his very best form on clay.
(Reporting by Mark Meadows; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
