Stunning Soderling dethrones Nadal

Robin Soderling caused one of the greatest upsets in Grand Slam history on Sunday afternoon when he blew away Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-7(2) 6-4 7-6(2). Nadal’s hopes of becoming the first player, man or woman, to win the French Open five times in a row are gone, dashed as the scintillating Swede played the game of his life. “I try to keep telling myself before the match that, I have to believe,” Soderling said. “Of course, I told everybody this is the biggest challenge you can have, playing Nadal, the best clay court player of all time on clay, best of five sets in Roland Garros. But still, I have to believe that I have a chance, otherwise there's no meaning going on the court - I could just go home instead. I tried to keep telling myself that at least I have a small chance. This is the biggest moment of my career so far. I couldn't even dream of this before the match, so I will remember this match for the rest of my life.” After 31 consecutive match wins dating back to 2005, the King of Clay lost his first-ever match at the French Open and can have no complaints after playing on the back foot virtually throughout, while the inspired No23 seed blitzed him from every corner of the court. Game of his life Soderling was a revelation, ignoring Nadal’s legendary defensive capabilities and deploying a power game that left the great man scrambling, gasping for air and finally bowing his head in defeat. The Swede was everywhere: firing down ace after ace (nine in all with no double faults) and slamming innumerable winners especially on the swinging forehand. He did what Roger Federer never managed, coming to the net at invariably the right time (27 winners in 35 visits) and was nerveless and merciless, converting five out of six break points and allowing Nadal only four, saving two of them, despite being taken to deuce 11 times. Nadal was not at his lethal best, but this was not a match thrown away by an ill-prepared champion. The Spanish world No1 is too professional to take anyone lightly, let alone the man who took him to five sets at Wimbledon in 2007 in a five-day, rain-delayed epic. But attempting to break his own and Bjorn Borg’s record of four straight titles proved to be a bridge too far. “Rafa was too passive in his game the whole tournament,” said his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal. “He was nervous and hit the ball very bad. He couldn’t move well. Everything was wrong. He wasn’t calm enough to be able to bring out his whole game. He was never calm enough to confront the situations he needed to face.” Few could have predicted such a monumental upset before the match. After all, Soderling had never been to the fourth round of a Grand Slam before today, losing to Nadal in the first round here three years ago and only managing to take one game off him in Rome at the end of April. But as Swedish Davis Cup captain Mats Wilander said, on a warm day in Paris, Court Phillip Chatrier played like a hard court, which was to the Swede’s advantage, as he was able to go straight at the Spaniard and keep the points short. Furthermore, he played without fear. “Robin’s not afraid of anyone,” Wilander said. “He works as hard as well as anyone these days and he thinks he can beat everyone on any surface. Finally, it’s really nice to see to someone stand up to Nadal mentally and not be bothered by anything and let Nadal take his time and not be worried about it and really be in Rafa’s face more than the others guys are doing.” Immediate impact Right from the outset it was blindingly obvious that this was not the same Soderling as in Rome. Pumped up by his excellent win over David Ferrer in the previous round, the Swede broke early to make it 3-1, served comfortably and then broke Nadal again at 5-2 before holding. The first set was done and dusted in a mere 34 minutes. As a rule of course, when the underdog takes the opener against the reigning champ, eyebrows are raised before normal service resumes, but not this time. Nadal certainly raised his game, going for and finding his winners. He broke to lead 2-1 and served for the set at 5-4, only for Soderling to rip up the script once again with a brilliant backhand volley to break back. They proceeded to the tiebreak where Soderling finally showed a few nerves and committed one unforced error after another. Nadal at last imposed himself, winning 7-2. Again, that should have been the precursor for Nadal to cruise to victory, but the Swede continued to find the lines and blast his forehand to devastating effect. At 3-3, 30-40, he banged down a big return, wrong-footed Rafa and broke the champion again before serving out for 6-4. Incredible denoument Even then, most onlookers expected Rafa to push the contest to five sets and outlast the Swede, but Soderling was not intent on hanging around for the decider. He shrugged off the loss of his opening service game to break straight back at the start of the fourth, then held his nerve on serve as Rafa tried to force the issue. At 4-5, the Swede found himself 15-30 down but saved the day with three enormous serves, and then held again at 5-6 despite twice being taken to deuce. The match came down a thrilling, yet astonishingly one-sided denouement. Nadal, the greatest clay-court player of this century, would surely not allow his crown to slip without a fight? Fight he did, but in vain as Soderling thundered down yet more winners and unplayable serves. Of the first seven points, Nadal won only one and even that saw him enjoy a lucky net cord, which could have gone either way. Finally, Rafa rushed the net and dug out a volley, which drifted, drifted, drifted…and landed just out. Soderling has done what no one else has ever managed here at Roland Garros, beaten the great, the legendary Rafael Nadal. And so an era of Parisian dominance comes to an end. “I played very short,” Nadal said. I didn't play great. I didn't play with calm at any time during all the match. That makes him easy to play at this level during all the match. So it was my fault, and he did well. He did very well, but I didn't play my best tennis and for that reason I lose. I have to accept my defeat as I accepted my victories: with calm. I need to learn, and you learn more when you lose than when you win. This is not a tragedy, losing here in Paris. It had to happen one day, and this is an excellent season for me. Of course it's a bit sad, but I have to overcome this as quickly as possible.”