Defending Champion Nadal
Ousted by Soderling at French Open
By Danielle Rossingh
May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Rafael Nadal’s bid for a record fifth straight French Open tennis title ended in the fourth round against Robin Soderling of Sweden.
Soderling beat the top-ranked Spaniard 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). The four-time French Open champion had never lost at Roland Garros before today’s match. It was Nadal’s earliest defeat in a major since he lost in the round of 16 at the 2007 U.S. Open.
Nadal’s loss ends his chance of becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the four Grand Slam events in one calendar year. The Spaniard started the year with his first Grand Slam victory on a hard court, at the Australian Open, where he beat second-ranked Roger Federer in the final.
It wasn’t the first time Nadal had struggled against Soderling, the No. 23 seed. Soderling took the Majorcan to five sets two years ago at Wimbledon, in a match that took five days because of rain delays.
In the first set today, Nadal struggled to come to grips with Soderling’s flat ground strokes and failed to find his rhythm. The Spaniard lost the set 6-2 as he dumped a backhand in the net. It was Nadal’s first set loss since he played Federer in the 2007 final, as Soderling produced 19 winners.
In the second set, Nadal forced an early service break to go 2-1 up with a backhand cross-court pass from the back of the court. Serving for the set at 5-3, Nadal made two unforced errors in the game, as Soderling got the break back. In the tie- break, Nadal won six straight points as Soderling failed to find the lines. The Spaniard clinched the second set 7-6 (7-2).
Tumble
In the third set, Soderling broke in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. In the next game, Nadal took a tumble on the clay as he slipped on the baseline while running down a shot. The Spaniard continued to be outplayed by the Swede, and failed to find an answer to his powerful forehand. Soderling took the set 6-4 as Nadal dumped a forehand into the net.
In the fourth set, Nadal got an early break to go 2-0 up. Soderling broke back immediately as Nadal’s forehand frequently failed to stay within the lines. With play back on serve, the Swede continued to put pressure on his opponent by coming to the net to shorten the points.
In the tie-break, Soderling raced to a 4-1 lead as Nadal twice mishit a forehand, made another error at the net and then on his backhand. The Swede had five match points at 6-1 as Nadal dumped another ball in the net. He converted his second match point when Nadal hit a volley wide. Soderling threw his racket into the crowd at Court Philippe Chatrier after he won.
Last year, Nadal won the title without dropping a set, only the third man to do so after Ilie Nastase in 1973 and Bjorn Borg in 1978 and 1980.
Soderling was playing in his first ever round of 16 match in a Grand Slam. The last Swedish man to reach a French Open quarterfinal was Magnus Norman, who went on to the final in 2000.
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