French Open – Roland Garros
Nadal looks sullen as if he is still upset with his only loss at Roland Garros but he defeated Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (3) to reach the French Open semifinals for the sixth time.
The five-time champion lost to Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 but then defeated him in last year’s final. His individual score is 43-1 at the clay-court Grand Slam and just two wins away from equaling Bjorn Borg’s record of six French Open titles.
Nadal’s next match is with fourth-seeded Andy Murray. The Australian Open runner-up defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6 (2), 7-5, 6-2. Nadal was back on Court Philippe Chatrier to face the man who was responsible for his only loss at Roland Garros. But with the wind gusting and at one point blowing specks of red clay into Nadal’s face – the fifth-seeded Swede struggled with his first serve, landing only 57 per cent during the match.
Nadal, however, didn’t appear to be bothered by the conditions, although he was broken twice. The Spaniard made only 13 unforced errors, while Soderling had staggering 41 of them.
He remained emotionless for almost the entire match and was able to handle Soderling’s hard forehand while keeping his opponent on the move by spluttering shots to all corners of the court. And when he smacked a forehand winner to hold serve to 6-5 in the third set, the crowd roared.
After five titles in Paris, Nadal had plenty of fans in the stands, and quite some admirers. Besides the Spanish flags throughout the stadium, the camera caught one woman who held up a sign reading, “Rafa ganador, kiss me por favor” (“Rafa you winner, kiss me please”)
Roger Federer also made his way back into the French Open semifinals and he’ll now get a chance to play with Novak Djokovic. Against Djokovic, Federer will be up against the player who eliminated him from the semifinals at the last two major tournaments.
But if the event favors Djokovic, he can equal John McEnroe’s Open era record of 42 straight wins to start a season. And with just three more, he would match Guilermo Vilas’ record 46-match winning streak.
Tags: Andy Murray, French Open, Grand Slam, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Tennis
