Robin Soderling’s fourth round victory over Rafael Nadal at the French Open was perhaps the biggest upset of the open era. Not only did it blow this year’s tournament wide open, it more significantly broke the Nadal clay court spell.
Richard Krajicek’s victory over Pete Sampras at the same stage of the 1996 Wimbledon rivals Soderling’s achievement, although the Dutchman, a top 16 player and two-time Grand Slam semi finalist going into that match, went on to win the tournament.
It would be a major surprise if Soderling, who had failed to reach a slam quarter final in 21 previous attempts, goes on to win at Roland Garros, but he should be content in the knowledge that he played the game of his life in beating Nadal.
Nadal’s mastery on clay is more complete than Sampras’ was on grass and the Spaniard will surely improve on Sampras’ haul of seven wins at one major.
Nadal has not lost his mantle of the best clay-courter of all time overnight, although he has mislaid some of his aura. He had never before lost at Roland Garros and has the longest single-surface winning streak in the open era to his name.
The Spaniard often had his opponents beaten on clay before the match started; they looked over the net and saw defeat. Soderling has ensured that Nadal’s rivals will approach future encounters with more optimism.
The obvious beneficiary of Nadal’s unexpected defeat is Roger Federer. The Swiss legend will never have a better opportunity to win his first French Open title and join Sampras on 14 slam titles, but this brings pressure, as Federer knows that this is his big chance.
However, the other seven men left in the tournament are playing well enough to take advantage of Nadal’s slip. They watched Federer’s five set struggle against Tommy Haas just as keenly as they did Nadal’s defeat and each knows this will perhaps be their best opportunity to win in Paris.
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Philip Oliver is an independent sports writer who specializes in soccer, cricket and tennis. He’ll be providing relevant articles for the Tennis Guru site from time to time.
