I am not a big tennis follower but even I know this is huge — Rafael Nadal lost in the fourth round of the French Open, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2), to Robin Soderling of Sweden. Nadal had won fourth straight French Opens and was the heavy favorite to win again. With Novak Djokovic also losing, the weekend’s big winner has to be Roger Federer, shooting for his first title in Paris.
On the women’s side, defending champion Ana Ivanovic also lost. This is the first time since 2004 that two defending champs lost in the same round in a major. For you tennis fans, how big was Nadal’s loss and does Soderling have a shot to win it all?
on May 31st, 2009 at 3:44 PM
Oh No nadal
on May 31st, 2009 at 5:01 PM
He looked amazingly lead-footed and unfocused, and on clay!
on May 31st, 2009 at 9:35 PM
Soderling was always a talented player but very inconsistent. Davydenko will prolly have little problem against him (if his foot/leg holds up).
After that, possibly Murray or Gonzalez? If he manages to get that far, he definitely deserves to win the French Open even if Federer makes it there!
Yet I see a huge opportunity for Federer to complete his goal!
on May 31st, 2009 at 11:10 PM
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Soderling get to the final–especially if he maintains form–but I don’t see him winning it all. This is an amazing opportunity for Federer to tie Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles.
on Jun 1st, 2009 at 12:00 AM
It was weird watching Nadal today. I thought he must be injured because he just wasn’t moving well. I may have been reading something into it. but it looked like he was favoring his left leg at times.
Ro-GER! Ro-GER! Ro-GER!
on Jun 1st, 2009 at 12:16 AM
Let us not get ahead of ourselves just yet. I want Federer to win as much as anyone but he still has 4 matches to win before he gets the trophy. That said he must feel it within his grasp now.
on Jun 1st, 2009 at 5:41 AM
Roger is such a big crybaby! i want him to not win it just like i want the Cubs to never win the WS, only because it’s so much fun to see them lose! kinda evil i know hehe but how entertaining would it be to see roger break down after losing a 5 set final?