Viking Rules the Day: Nadal Stunned by Soderling
Rafa Nadal, the undisputed King of Clay was shocked this afternoon by the Swedish maestro in Robin Soderling. With Soderling coming out firing with his big forehand and aggressive play, Nadal was kept on the back of his feet for a significant amount of time. The final score - 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6. With that, the perfect record, the consecutive French Open record, and the opportunity for the annual Grand Slam fade into the night.
Soderling was aggressive as hell out there, firing forehands and backhands with pretty much reckless abandon at times. He's a fun player to watch, and at age 24, Soderling still has plenty of opportunity to move forward in his career (currently ranked #25).
For those who remain in the mens draw, this opens things up significantly (again). Novak Djokovic, arguably 2009's 2nd best clay-courter was also eliminated, and that leaves Federer as the guy to beat here in France. How ironic would it be for Federer to win the elusive French (and potentially nothing else in 2009), when folks are arguing that the guy is even done at Wimbledon?!
Or, is this where we see Tsonga, Monfils, or Del Potro (perhaps even Roddick?) bust out at Rolland Garros, and give us a real look at the next generation?
This is getting interesting folks, very interesting.
Soderling was aggressive as hell out there, firing forehands and backhands with pretty much reckless abandon at times. He's a fun player to watch, and at age 24, Soderling still has plenty of opportunity to move forward in his career (currently ranked #25).
For those who remain in the mens draw, this opens things up significantly (again). Novak Djokovic, arguably 2009's 2nd best clay-courter was also eliminated, and that leaves Federer as the guy to beat here in France. How ironic would it be for Federer to win the elusive French (and potentially nothing else in 2009), when folks are arguing that the guy is even done at Wimbledon?!
Or, is this where we see Tsonga, Monfils, or Del Potro (perhaps even Roddick?) bust out at Rolland Garros, and give us a real look at the next generation?
This is getting interesting folks, very interesting.
Comment
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Comment by Mark Oskar on June 2, 2009 at 3:17pm
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Monfils could pose problems for Federer. It should be a great match.
Mr.Mayor, it was a roll of the dice on Soderling/Davydenko wasn't it? What does Soderling come out with? Does he exhibit the hangover from Nadal match? Apparently not. Wow. Soderling has an interesting "take" on what clay court tennis should be! ;)
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Comment by Mr. Jessie L. on June 1, 2009 at 11:54am
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One of the greatest all-time upsets! a-rod over monfils.
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Comment by Mark / The Mayor on June 1, 2009 at 11:30am
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davy over sod, murray over gonzo.
monfils over a-rod....
those are my predictions i feel right now.
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Comment by Meags on June 1, 2009 at 1:46am
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I agree Sod shots were so deep and hard that it showed you have to be almost reckless and have one of those days were 90% of your shots go in, to beat Nadal.
Im really pleased it has opened the draw up and it will be very interesting how the players left will react.
Fed of course is now favourite but has 2 frenchmen, Del P and A-Rod on his side. To be honest he will cruise past Roddic and D-P if he meets them but it may be a different answer if he meets one of the frenchmen. On that side Im hoping for Monfils to come thro in the quarters or Tsonga in the semi against Fed.
On the other side the quarters are alreay sorted. Can Soderling maintain that form against Davydenko who demolished Verdasco? Simple answer NO! and can Murray beat Gonzales? Simple answer YES!
Good day today with Tsonga v Del Potro and Roddick v Monfils both very close and I hope one frenchman stays in but its gonna be tough, Roddick and DP are playing great.
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Comment by Chris on May 31, 2009 at 11:49pm
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The scary thing was, Soderling didn't win because Nadal had a bad day, he just won with his big shots. And Nadal actually felt uncomfortable at times. It was unbelievable.
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