French Open

Can it be? Rafa the Great, the Invincible One, has lost a match at the French Open ! Robin Soderling played the best tennis of his life and out-muscled the game’s biggest muscle man 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2).

In a three hour thirty minute thriller, the Swede Soderling powered crisp, penetrating forehand after forehand winner past the stunned Nadal and ended the Spaniard’s run for a record fifth consecutive French Open title.

Nadal had chalked up 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros dating back top 2005. On paper, Soderling did not match up well against the left-handed King of Clay. The 24-year old eight-year veteran of the pro tour has a modest 2009 singles record of 11-10. He has never advanced beyond the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.

Now, that is all history. Nadal’s 41-4 record this year is down the drain and by the wayside. Soderling was so powerful, and so finely tuned that Nadal was forced to play well behind the baseline. At times, he seemed mesmerized by the shots that kept ripping back from the very fit Swiss powerhouse.

In 2007, Soderling had forced Nadal to five sets at Wimbledon. On the circuit, Soderling is known as a hard surface and indoor specialist. His clay court dominance over the game’s best clay court player was unexpected to fans but not to Nadal, who trains hard for every match and expected a tough match from Soderling.

Nadal may have been surprised by the size and vocal support of Soderling’s following. With each winning shot, it seemed as if the Swede’s support grew. When Rafa bounced back to force set two to a tiebreaker, the fans quieted. When he stormed out of the gate and romped through the tiebreaker, it seemed like Rafa was back and the inevitable would occur.

The tough-minded Swede answered by breaking in the first game of the third set. Robin held the break and claimed the set. Nadal promptly broke in the first game of set four and Soderling responded with another immediate break.

Several times, Nadal attempted to change the momentum by his notorious delay tactics and unusual gamesmanship maneuvering. Soderling was not buying it. He answered every delay with thunderous volleys and let his forehand do his talking.

Soderling will next play Russian Nikolay Davydenko who blasted past the other left-handed Spaniard Fernando Verdasco to claim his seta in the quarters. Much like Nadal, Verdasco never could catch up to Davydenko. On this day, at Roland Garros, it seemed as if the seeds were fair game and relatively easy pickings.

At this level of play, the seeds have to prove their mettle. The challengers have nothing to lose and are playing aggressively.

Ana out too!

Verdasco’s latest heartthrob and French Open defending champion, Ana Ivanovic will be joining him on the café circuit. 9th seed Victoria Azarenka never let the 2008 champ in the match. She came out of the gate firing powerful groundstrokes and kept Ana on her back foot throughout the straight set match.

Azarenka handed Ivanoivc a surprisingly easy and surprisingly quick lopsided defeat, 6-2, 6-3. Azarenka’s power left French fans drooling over the prospects of the Safina-Azarenka quarterfinal pairing. The ninth seed looks ready to break through and shows no fear at taking on higher seeds. Safina, who has yet to been challenged in Paris, will know she has been in a match against the very solid Azarenka.

In another fourth round match at Roland Garros, Maria Sharapova dropped the second set 0-6, but covered the set with two 6-4 victories to seal a quarterfinal berth against Slovakia’s 20th seed, Dominika Cibulkova.

Sharapova has had moments of brilliance but moments of mediocrity this year. She is making a habit of three set matches and the Grand Slam is difficult enough without expending energy in subpar sets.

Sharapova advances but without appearing dominant. Cibulkova, who bested Venus Williams slayer Agnes Szavay, will provide a stiff test for Maria. Szavay never got untracked against Dominika, but her loyal fans voiced their admiration in defeat. So, it was on Sunday in Paris.

On the Men’s side the top seed and the four seed, the two bookmaker favorites are gone. On the Women’s side, the three seed, the defending champion and the four seed are out. At Roland Garros, it’s anybody’s guess, just the way they planned it.