Defending French Open champions Rafael Nadal and Ana Ivanovic were surprisingly sent home on the same day, May 31.
Nadal, a four-time Roland Garros champion, suffered his first defeat in five appearances at this claycourt tournament. He was beaten in the fourth round by 23rd-seed Swedish player Robin Soderling in four sets (2-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7).
Soderling was clearly not intimidated with the Spaniard’s flawless record as he committed 61 winners as opposed to Nadal’s 33. This figure ultimately covered for his 59 unforced errors to Nadal’s 28.
Check out the match statistics HERE.
Earlier, Ana Ivanovic was sent packing by Belarussian ninth-seed Victoria Azarenka (2-6, 3-6) also in the fourth round. Ivanovic had more winners (24) than Azarenka (14) but the Serbian committed more unforced errors (20).
The loss means that Ivanovic could crash out of the world’s top ten when the rankings are released after the Roland Garros.
Check out the match statistics HERE.
