Swedish player Robin Soderling started the Roland Garros 2009 ranked 25th in the world but after two weeks of spectacular performances which saw him reaching his first career Grand Slam final, his ranking rose thirteen places to number 12, a career high.
Soderling had never gone past the third round in the past 21 Slam outings. He made headlines in the tennis world the past week after he handed four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal his lone loss on Parisian clay at the fourth round. To prove that his victory was no fluke, the Swede went on to defeat Nikolay Davydenko (quarterfinals) and Fernando Gonzalez (semifinals) to set up a meeting with Swiss world number two Roger Federer in the finals. He lost the match 1-6, 6-7, 4-6.
Despite the loss, Soderling only had positive words to say about his amazing run in Paris.
“I had a great tournament. I had the two best weeks of my career so far. I’ve been playing some very good matches and I’ve been beating some very good players. For sure this gives me a lot more confidence. I think now I really showed to myself that I can do well in Grand Slams,” he said.
