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The Swede broke defending champion Roddick early in the contest to comfortably take the first set.

Midway through the second at 4-4, Roddick slipped on rainwater that had seeped through the arena's roof and play was delayed to mop up the court.

Soderling broke again in the 11th game before closing out the match to end the event without dropping a set.

The victory means he will move above Andy Murray to fourth in the world rankings and be seeded number four at the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on 17 January.

And the 2009 and 2010 French Open runner-up was quick to pay tribute to his new coach, Claudio Pistolesi, after sealing his seventh career title.

"We've only worked together for a couple of weeks, this is the first tournament, and it's working pretty well, no?" said Soderling, who has never been past the second round at Melbourne Park.


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Soderling winning Brisbane means he has moved up to fourth again above Murray in the ranking. Though he is a very good player and could certainly beat Murray on a given day, I still think Murray has more nerves and stamina to beat the top three players and in particular the top two.

Tenez

"I'm playing really well and what makes me really happy is I never really played well in Australia before. It gives me a lot of confidence for Melbourne."

Soderling dictated play from the back of the court throughout and was his serve was particularly impressive, especially at pivotal stages in the match - summoning a trio of aces to give himself set point in the first set.

"He served too well, it seemed like any time I had a look, he came up with one of those big serves," conceded Roddick. "I'm normally at the other side and it's better on that end of the serve."

Roddick was clearly troubled by the slippery court in the second set and, during a heated exchange with umpire Fergus Murphy, said: "I'm not going to get hurt before Melbourne."

The world number seven later added: "I love this tournament but that being said if it was set alone you wouldn't have the entire tennis world coming down to this area. The end goal is Melbourne.

"I don't think you want to compromise the quality of your final with having guys scared to move."

Despite his frustrations, Roddick put up a brave fight after the hold-up. He saved three break points at 5-5 before eventually netting a backhand to give Soderling his 10th break-point of the match. The Swede then served out with ease for victory.

During the presentations, Roddick announced he would double his pledge of $100 per ace for Queensland's flood victims, bringing his donation to $10,800 (£6,950).

Ten people have died since late November and about 200,000 have been affected by the floods in Queensland, of which Brisbane is the state capital.