Federer outplayed Soderling the whole of that match, showing us his best shots and the kind of form that took him to 13 previous grand slam titles.
Federer has to put up with a man who ran onto the court at one stage with a Barcelona football flag wrapped around him and tried to put a red hat on Federer. Security were slow to react but he was tackled to the ground by security and carried off the court by 3 security guards. The man was jailed for questioning and could be charged with illegally entering a sports stadium. AH YES!… Oh, he also claimed to be a Federer fan….
The key shots in his win were is first serve and forehand dropshot which brought him countless winners and took Soderling completly out of his comfort zone. Federer wasnt broken once and saved each breakpoint with sometimes amazing shots.
The Final score 6-1 7-6 6-4.
The trophy was presented to Federer by Andre Agassi, who won the title 10 years ago, also completing his career grand slam. Federer is now tied with Pete Sampras for the most mens singles grand slam titles with 14 titles. He will have a chance to beat that record in a couple of weeks on the lawns of Wimbledon.
I think this proves Federer really is the greatest of all time.
The biggest match of Soderlings life and perhaps one of the most important of Federers. Possibly a career defining match for the Swiss, where winning would surely confirm him as the greatest player to ever pick up a racket (incase there were still some disbelievers!!)
The french open title has got away from him the last 3 years where Nadal beat him in the final each time. But with the other top 4 seeds out fairly early, the title should be all Federers. He deserves it.
Soderling did the impossible by beating Nadal at his favourite tournament where he never lost before or was even pushed to 5 sets. He beat him in 4 sets by really just going for broke and hitting as hard as he could. Amazingly he could keep it up and a final backhand forced Nadal into an error at the net.
The head to head!
Naturally Federer leads. 9-0 with Soderling never even winning a set off Federer before.
Their most recent meeting was a couple of weeks ago in Madrid where Federer won comfortly 6-1 7-5
I’m hoping for a good match but I definitely think the huge occasion will get to Soderling and Federer will leave Paris tomorrow evening with a French Open trophy in his bag!
Roger Federer was forced to 5 sets for a second time this week when Del Potro took a 2-1 lead, but Federers superior fitness and experience in this situation took him through to the final when he served for victory at 5-4 in the final set.
Del Potro had never taken a set from the Swiss before today but still couldn’t do enough to win the points that mattered the most as his serve collapsed in the last set.
Federer faces another 5-set winner and Nadal conqueror Robin Soderling in the final this Sunday.
The match we have all been waiting for!! The title is within Federers reach and is the clear favourite to take it and this is most likely going to be the most difficult match he is going to face this week. Del Potro is a step above all the other opponents he has played and is in great form this week. But considering Federer is also playing amazing and has been in this situation so many times before, I really think Federer wont let this match get away from him, nor the title he has been wanting for so long.
Federer leads the head-to-head 5-0, including taking Del Potro apart in the Australian Open and winning comfortably in Madrid a couple of weeks ago on clay. Del Potro has never even won a set against Federer.
Both Svetlana Kusnetsova and Dinara Safina secured their place in the singles final.
Safina made the best of a nervy Cibulkova who just could make the shot on the biggest points. Kusnetsova had a much harder time as she was pushed to 3 sets by a very determined Sam Stosur who came back from 5-2 down in the second set tie break to take it to a third, but she ultimately lost 6-3 in the third.
Safina leads the head-to-head 8-5 but its 4-all on clay, with them each winning a clay court this title this year, defeating each other in the finals. So it should be a very interesting match and I’m expecting a real battle on Saturday.
I pick Kunetsova to take the title, but both women have been in the finals here before.
Andy Murray lost his quarter-final match to the more experienced Fernando Gonzalez in 4 sets. Federer is now the overwhelming favourite for the title as the only top-4 seed left in the draw and holds winning records over all the remaining players in the field. Winning the title would make history for the Swiss player as he would have completed the career Grand Slam. Robin Soderling continued his amazing form against Nikolay Davydenko.
Dinara Safina faced her first real test but came from a set down against Victoria Azarenka.
Cirstea: First time passed the second round in a Grand Slam
Two-time semi-finalist Jelena Jankovic was knocked out by unseeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania. Well done to her, she held her nerve and over powered the Serb in the end. A well deserved win.
The quarter-final lineup is as follows
Mens
Robin Soberling v. Nikolay Davydenko
Andy Murray v. Fernando Gonzalez
Juan M Del Potro v. Tommy Robredo
Roger Federer v. Gael Monfils
Womens
Dinara Safina v. Victoria Azarenka
Domonika Cibulkova v.M Sharapova
Sorena Cirstea v. Samantha Stosur
Svetlana Kuznetsova v. S Williams
Roger Federer came back from 2 sets down against a Tommy Haas of old who played probably the best 3 sets of his life hitting amazing forehands and seemed to have all the answers until the end of the third set when Federer came up with something special when break point down (a forehand barely clipping the line) and the match turned around from there with the German only winning 2 games in the last two sets.
Federer plays either Andy Roddick or Gael Monfils in the quarter finals.
Veteran Fabrice Santoro was also presented with a cross-section of the clay courts as a gift to mark his last ever appearance as at the French Open. He will retire at the end of the year.
Yep, it’s true. Rafael Nadal made history today as he lost in 4 sets to an inspired Robin Soderling. Soderling went for broke on every shot and played an extremely high-risk brand of tennis which in the end payed massive dividends. Nadal just couldn’t string enough great shots together and found himself down 1-6 in the 4th set tiebreaker.
It’s just a pity that Soderling payed Nadal no respect at the end of the match, even shaking the umpires hand first….
I wont bother putting up a picture of Soderling. He isn’t worth it.
