The Hindu : Sport : Robin Soderling ends Nadal’s fantastic reign

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Robin Soderling ends Nadal’s fantastic reign

Azarenka dethrones Ivanovic while Safina, Murray advance; Bhupathi-Knowles pair loses

Photo: AP

A visibly disconsolate Rafael Nadal after losing to Robin Soderling at the Roland Garros on Sunday.

PARIS: Rafael Nadal’s hopes of a record fifth successive French Open title were crushed into the Roland Garros red dust by Robin Soderling’s Swedish sledgehammer on Sunday.

In one of the greatest upsets in the history of the tournament, the Spanish king of clay slumped to a first ever defeat here having racked up 31 wins in 31 outings since his 2005 debut.

Soderling’s stunning 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2) fourth round victory came just a month after he’d won only one game in a rout at the Rome Masters, his third defeat in three matches against the world No. 1.

The six-times Grand Slam champion seemed lacking in energy on Centre Court, losing the first set in 34 minutes before rallying back to win the second in a tie-break 7-2.

Soderling brushed that off as a mere inconvenience on his way to making sure a second champion was dismissed that day after women’s holder Ana Ivanovic was earlier beaten by Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-3.

Gracious loser

“I have to accept with the same calm when I win than when I lose. After four years, I lose here, and the season continues,” a gracious Nadal told a news conference.

Nadal said he could not keep his nerve in they moments of the match.

“Sure, he did well. He did very well but I didn’t play my best tennis. I didn’t play my tennis, and for that reason I lose. That’s it,” he said.

“I was not calm enough to face the important points, so I had to fight. But sometimes fighting is not enough. You have to play a good level of tennis.

“Sometimes people think I win because I’m physically fit, but, no. When I win, it’s because I play well, and that wasn’t the case today.”

Not a bad player

The first thing Nadal said will do is head to the swimming pool at his Mallorca home and convince himself that one defeat has not suddenly made him a bad player following a 12 months where he won Wimbledon, the Olympics and the Australian Open.

“This is sport, and you can have victories or defeats. No one remembers defeats in the long run. People remember victories,” added the Spaniard.

“So I have to move forward. I have a little time to prepare for Wimbledon, but I have to move forward and try and prepare the best I can.”

Soderling, seeded 23rd, was jubilant.

“I told myself this is just another match,” said the jubilant 23rd seed. “All the time, I was trying to play as if it was a training session. When I was 4-1 up in the tiebreak, I started to believe.

“I tried to keep telling myself I had to believe. I played a great match. If he thinks he plays bad, that’s his choice.”

Soderling next faces 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals. The Russian reached last eight with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco.

Chance for Federer

The draw has now opened up for three-time finalist Roger Federer. The former No. 1 needs only to win the French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, and his road got clearer on Saturday when potential semifinal opponent Novak Djokovic was eliminated and he won against Paul-Henri Mathieu in four sets.

Ivanovic surrendered her crown without much of a fight when she was totally outclassed in the fourth round by the 19-year-old Azarenka who never lost belief.

As Ivanovic bid an early farewell to Roland Garros, Azarenka set up a quarterfinal date with champion-in-waiting Dinara Safina.

The Russian top seed’s headlong charge towards a maiden Grand Slam title showed no sign of running out of steam as she flattened Aravane Rezai 6-1, 6-0.

Sparkling form

Men’s third seed Andy Murray was also in sparkling form as he strung together four successive wins on his least favourite surface for the first time by stamping out the challenge of Croatia’s Marin Cilic with a 7-5, 7-6, 6-1 win.

Murray let out a big yawn as he walked on to Suzanne Lenglen Court but it was Cilic who was soon wishing he had stayed in bed when 40 unforced errors flew off his racquet to help the Scot on his way.

The win not only made him the first Briton to reach the last eight since 2004 but kept Murray in the race against Roger Federer to secure the world No. 2 spot by the end of the tournament.

Slovak Dominika Cibulkova made it through to the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time when she outwitted Venus Williams’s conqueror Hungarian Agnes Szavay.

Fernando Gonzalez lived up to his nickname of ‘Speedy’ as he darted into the last eight with a win over Romanian 30th seed Victor Hanescu.

Meanwhile in men’s doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles were knocked in the third round.

The fourth seeded pair lost to the Jose Acasuso of Argentina and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. — Agencies

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