Soderling topples reigning champion Nadal
The defeat for Rafael Nadal is a huge boost to Andy Murray, who is in the Spaniard's half of the draw
Also In The News
|
A glorious second-half strike from midfielder Frank Lampard ensured Chelsea ended two seasons without a trophy by winning the FA Cup final at Wembley. |  |
Sunday, 31, May 2009 08:55
Reigning French Open champion Rafael Nadal has been dumped out in the fourth round after losing to Robin Soderling 6-2 6-7 6-4 7-6.
In one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history, the world number one suffered his first-ever defeat at Roland Garros.
Soderling will play either tenth seed Nikolay Davydenko or eighth seed Fernando for a place in the semi-finals.
And the Swede will feel he can beat anyone after dominating against a below-par Nadal in Paris.
The 23rd seed, who was thumped by Nadal in Rome two weeks ago, turned the tables by breaking twice to take the opening set. It was the first set the Mallorcan had lost at Roland Garros since 2007.
Nadal appeared to be making a fightback when he broke in the second set to take a 5-3 lead. But when serving for the set, Soderling hit back including a sensational diving backhand volley.
The Swede moved 6-5 with an ace before the top seed forced a tie-break with a risky drop shot that creeped over the net.
Nadal took charge of the tie-break, racing to a 6-0 leed, before sealing the set to level. But his erratic performance came back to haunt him in the third set as Soderling broke early in the third set.
Soderling then served out the set to move on the verge of a shock victory. The defending champion did his best to prevent an upset by leading 5-4 in the fourth set after getting some fluency on his own serve.
But in the eventual tie-break, the 22-year-old fell apart as Soderling raced into a 5-1 lead. And he held his nerve to seal victory and end the reign of his opponent on clay in Paris.