Did Anyone See This Coming? Soderling Defeats Nadal at the 2009 French Open

[HetTheGreaterer]

Hmm. I already said that Fed devotees' celebration of Rafa's loss (that has lasted for over a decade) always reminds me of what happened in 2010.

As if nadal $[ùts don't celebrate fed's losses.

 

[CHillTennis]

I remember ****posting on the other large tennis forum about how he was gonna lose before the match. I remember being pissed but not terribly surprised. He looked totally rattled/burnt out after the M09 semi with Nole and I remember watching him put up lopsided scores in the first couple rounds despite not being impressed with his game. OTOH, his Rome match with Soderling was one of the most atypical, brutal bagel/breadsticks you’ll see. Plus Robin loved to challenge Nadal and had the perfect toolset to take it to him - nearly got him at W07, despite Nadal being better that year than W08 IMO.

I still believe that if he had chosen to skip Madrid and take that time off from the tour. He would have won his fifth consecutive RG title that year (instead of in 2014.)

As a Spanish tennis player, it would make sense that he would want to play in Madrid and Barcelona.

I always wondered why he didn't chose to skip Rome, instead.

He could have come back for Madrid and the French feeling rested and strong.

 

[RelentlessAttack]

I still believe that if he had chosen to skip Madrid and take that time off from the tour. He would have won his fifth consecutive RG title that year (instead of in 2014.)

As a Spanish tennis player, it would make sense that he would want to play in Madrid and Barcelona.

I always wondered why he didn't chose to skip Rome, instead.

He could have come back for Madrid and the French feeling rested and strong.

Agreed. Based on form through the first half of the season I think he would have won RG and been the favorite at Wimbledon if he didn’t burn himself out. His whole career trajectory honestly changed after that match, because his movement to the BH side and defense of that wing suffered. If you look back, Djokovic’s domination of the H2H off clay started after Nadal returned that fall, as opposed to 2011. However, Nadal’s form and game were so based around maximal intensity at all times and pushing himself and the opponent past the brink, I don’t know that it’s fair to expect his younger self to have managed his schedule conservatively that way. A younger Nadal that was concerned with preventing burnout and injury would have been a different player, with perhaps less early success.

 

[CHillTennis]

Agreed. Based on form through the first half of the season I think he would have won RG and been the favorite at Wimbledon if he didn’t burn himself out. His whole career trajectory honestly changed after that match, because his movement to the BH side and defense of that wing suffered. If you look back, Djokovic’s domination of the H2H off clay started after Nadal returned that fall, as opposed to 2011. However, Nadal’s form and game were so based around maximal intensity at all times and pushing himself and the opponent past the brink, I don’t know that it’s fair to expect his younger self to have managed his schedule conservatively that way. A younger Nadal that was concerned with preventing burnout and injury would have been a different player, with perhaps less early success.

Wow. This is really an excellent post! Great job.

If there's one thing that I could add to this post, it would be that Nadal really needed his serve to be an effective weapon in those years when Djokovic was at the top of the game.

I remember that he brought on a coach to help improve his serve in 2009 or 2010.

That coach was able to make some major improvements to Nadal's serve and was able to get him an additional 15-20mph.

For some reason they stopped working together and his service motion was never the same.

In my opinion, this has cost Nadal millions of dollars throughout the course of his career.

 

[Deleted member 770948]

Rafa said he didn't like serving at high speeds, because if the opponent returning the ball it would be back on Rafa quickly and it would mean Rafa would not have enough time to make the first shot into a forehand (if the ball was directed at Rafa's backhand wing).
Also, Rafa got some tendinitis after the 2010 US Open, and could therefore not serve as big in the last few tournaments of 2010......so serving big was physically impossible long-term.
Anyway, Rafa didn't serve big in 2012-13, and during that stretch he beat Djokovic 6 times in 7 attempts.

 

[octobrina10]

Wow. This is really an excellent post! Great job.

If there's one thing that I could add to this post, it would be that Nadal really needed his serve to be an effective weapon in those years when Djokovic was at the top of the game.

I remember that he brought on a coach to help improve his serve in 2009 or 2010.

That coach was able to make some major improvements to Nadal's serve and was able to get him an additional 15-20mph.

For some reason they stopped working together and his service motion was never the same.

In my opinion, this has cost Nadal millions of dollars throughout the course of his career.

You posted a false story "that he brought on a coach to help improve his serve in 2009 or 2010."
The serve Rafa used at the 2010 USO was conceived during a training session with Juan Monaco before the tournament began. He wasn't capable of serving that way after the USO.
Rafa's coach F.Roig said in January 2019: "I consider his serve throughout that event [the 2010 USO] as a summer flower: his serve came and went. Rafa had it, then out of nowhere, he lost it."

2010 or 2019: Which Rafa Serve Is More Potent? | ATP Tour | Tennis

Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya and Francisco Roig provide insight comparing Nadal's 2019 serve to his 2010 serve.

www.atptour.com

 

[Deleted member 770948]

Rafa's 1st serve average in the 2010 US Open Final was only 116mph.
He only served big for the first 6 matches.

 

[mike danny]

I still believe that if he had chosen to skip Madrid and take that time off from the tour. He would have won his fifth consecutive RG title that year (instead of in 2014.)

As a Spanish tennis player, it would make sense that he would want to play in Madrid and Barcelona.

I always wondered why he didn't chose to skip Rome, instead.

He could have come back for Madrid and the French feeling rested and strong.

When you are young and on a roll, you want to play and win everything.

 

[CHillTennis]

You posted a false story "that he brought on a coach to help improve his serve in 2009 or 2010."
The serve Rafa used at the 2010 USO was conceived during a training session with Juan Monaco before the tournament began. He wasn't capable of serving that way after the USO.
Rafa's coach F.Roig said in January 2019: "I consider his serve throughout that event [the 2010 USO] as a summer flower: his serve came and went. Rafa had it, then out of nowhere, he lost it."

2010 or 2019: Which Rafa Serve Is More Potent? | ATP Tour | Tennis

Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya and Francisco Roig provide insight comparing Nadal's 2019 serve to his 2010 serve.

www.atptour.com

How is this story false?

 

[zipplock]

It will happen again this year. Don't know who it will be, but someone is taking Nadal out. This whole year is messed up, only fitting Nadal loses at RG.

 

[Deleted member 770618]

Wait, so Soderling won the match? That's weird.

 

[Cashman]

Anyone who says they saw it coming is a liar. Nadal had delivered a 6-1 6-0 beatdown a couple of weeks earlier in Rome, and there was every reason to expect it would happen again.

I remember thinking at the time that the match was fixed. There seemed no other logical explanation.

 

[zagor]

Did anyone see one of the biggest (maybe even the biggest) upsets in sports history coming? Obviously not, lol.

 

[MAPE]

With Roland Garros not taking place until late September, I thought it would be fun to go back and talk about one of the biggest upsets in the history of tennis. In fact, maybe even in the history of sports, itself.

On May 31st 2009, Robin Soderling would defeat Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the French Open.

At the time, I was in my late teens and had a blog that talked about the matches on the ATP tour.

I can still remember going to the ATP's website, that afternoon, to get the latest info on the tournament.

The first thing that came up made my jaw hit the floor.

The title said "Rafael Nadal Stunned by Robin Soderling."

Soderling was the last player that I would have ever picked to have beaten Nadal at the French.

"Hadn't he just demolished this guy a few weeks ago in Rome?" I remember thinking to myself.

As it turns out, the Soderling that played Nadal in Rome was actually a very different player from the man who showed up for this match.

Back in 2009, it was RARE for Nadal to even lose sets at the French Open.

This was a privilege that was usually reserved only for elite players like Roger Federer or on a really bad day...someone like Paul Henri Mathieu.

So how was it possible that a guy with absolutely no pedigree on clay would be able to defeat the four-time defending champion on his best surface?!

The answer to that question might not be completely obvious, but here are a few contributing factors as to what tipped the scale in Soderling's favor:

1. Burn out: Nadal had played in every single clay court tournament leading into the 2009 French Open. Making the finals in ALL of them. When you factor in the additional matches that he'd played during the hard court season, earlier that year, it was simply too many miles on his body.
The man was simply burned out and would be forced to take the next two months off to rest and recuperate.

2. Excellent Execution: Soderling had learned from his match in Rome that he stood no chance against Nadal by trading shots from the baseline.

In this match, he adapted a much different strategy and chose to hit through the Spaniard's line of defense. At 6' 4" Soderling was one of the few players that could actually do this. He would hit his way through Nadal's high looping forehands in a way that Roger Federer never could. Nadal was also a step slow in this match and the magic that always seemed to flow from his racquet was never there during this match.

3. Magnus Norman: Soderling's coach had studied Nadal's game and determined that there was a small and potentially exploitable weakness with his forehand. Early in Nadal's career, he would struggle against the players that could hit the ball low and fast to his forehand side. While the clay courts would lend to a slight slowing of the ball. Soderling was still able to put enough juice on his returns that Nadal wasn't able to get the ball back into play.

The playing conditions on this day were warm and dry. Which also helped Soderling pull-off the upset.

His victory over Nadal would go on to have a huge impact over the rest of the event. Ultimately leading to Roger Federer winning his first and only title at Roland Garros.

What are your memories of this match?

Very good analysis!! I may be biased since I’m Swedish and I don’t like Nadal. Nadal may not have played his best but Soderling was certainly not given the match. The greatest achievement was to not to budge mentally like 99,9% of the players do even before the match starts. Nadal fought like crazy like always but Soderling kept steamrolling him until the end. Unbelievable achievement!!

 

[Sabrina]

Tennis's upset of the century for me. However what is more insane is that after this match Nadal continue to dominance on clay, like it was nothing happended. He even broke Borg's record of 4 consecutive RG titles on his 2nd attempt lol.

 

[Sorry_to_tell_you_mate]

With Roland Garros not taking place until late September, I thought it would be fun to go back and talk about one of the biggest upsets in the history of tennis. In fact, maybe even in the history of sports, itself.

On May 31st 2009, Robin Soderling would defeat Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the French Open.

At the time, I was in my late teens and had a blog that talked about the matches on the ATP tour.

I can still remember going to the ATP's website, that afternoon, to get the latest info on the tournament.

The first thing that came up made my jaw hit the floor.

The title said "Rafael Nadal Stunned by Robin Soderling."

Soderling was the last player that I would have ever picked to have beaten Nadal at the French.

"Hadn't he just demolished this guy a few weeks ago in Rome?" I remember thinking to myself.

As it turns out, the Soderling that played Nadal in Rome was actually a very different player from the man who showed up for this match.

Back in 2009, it was RARE for Nadal to even lose sets at the French Open.

This was a privilege that was usually reserved only for elite players like Roger Federer or on a really bad day...someone like Paul Henri Mathieu.

So how was it possible that a guy with absolutely no pedigree on clay would be able to defeat the four-time defending champion on his best surface?!

The answer to that question might not be completely obvious, but here are a few contributing factors as to what tipped the scale in Soderling's favor:

1. Burn out: Nadal had played in every single clay court tournament leading into the 2009 French Open. Making the finals in ALL of them. When you factor in the additional matches that he'd played during the hard court season, earlier that year, it was simply too many miles on his body.
The man was simply burned out and would be forced to take the next two months off to rest and recuperate.

2. Excellent Execution: Soderling had learned from his match in Rome that he stood no chance against Nadal by trading shots from the baseline.

In this match, he adapted a much different strategy and chose to hit through the Spaniard's line of defense. At 6' 4" Soderling was one of the few players that could actually do this. He would hit his way through Nadal's high looping forehands in a way that Roger Federer never could. Nadal was also a step slow in this match and the magic that always seemed to flow from his racquet was never there during this match.

3. Magnus Norman: Soderling's coach had studied Nadal's game and determined that there was a small and potentially exploitable weakness with his forehand. Early in Nadal's career, he would struggle against the players that could hit the ball low and fast to his forehand side. While the clay courts would lend to a slight slowing of the ball. Soderling was still able to put enough juice on his returns that Nadal wasn't able to get the ball back into play.

The playing conditions on this day were warm and dry. Which also helped Soderling pull-off the upset.

His victory over Nadal would go on to have a huge impact over the rest of the event. Ultimately leading to Roger Federer winning his first and only title at Roland Garros.

What are your memories of this match?

You forgot the most important point and which is stated in Nadal's book: he was really injured in that match.

Don't fool yourself, a healthy Nadal would never have lost to this guy on clay as he had proved some weeks earlier in Rome and the following year in the RG final.

 

[mike danny]

You forgot the most important point and which is stated in Nadal's book: he was really injured in that match.

Don't fool yourself, a healthy Nadal would never have lost to this guy on clay as he had proved some weeks earlier in Rome and the following year in the RG final.

Really injured players don't run and defend like Nadal did in this match. If anything he got really injured after the match due to all the effort sustained in it.

 

[StrongRule]

Tennis's upset of the century for me. However what is more insane is that after this match Nadal continue to dominance on clay, like it was nothing happended. He even broke Borg's record of 4 consecutive RG titles on his 2nd attempt lol.

I'm sure haters would talk a lot about Nadal never winning RG 5 times in a row, something Federer did in 2 different slams. But he not only did it, he did it after already having a streak of 4 in a row. Very impressive record.

 

[mike danny]

I'm sure haters would talk a lot about Nadal never winning RG 5 times in a row, something Federer did in 2 different slams. But he not only did it, he did it after already having a streak of 4 in a row. Very impressive record.

That is a unique record of Nadal's that will stand the test of time.

The way I phrased it in the thread about Nadal's records was different though: "3 different streaks of 3+ titles at a single GS."

 

[Sorry_to_tell_you_mate]

Really injured players don't run and defend like Nadal did in this match. If anything he got really injured after the match due to all the effort sustained in it.

He was on painkillers, still limited.

 

[Mainad]

You forgot the most important point and which is stated in Nadal's book: he was really injured in that match.

Don't fool yourself, a healthy Nadal would never have lost to this guy on clay as he had proved some weeks earlier in Rome and the following year in the RG final.

Trouble is that Nadal ALWAYS seems to be injured whenever he loses.

 

[CHillTennis]

Anyone who says they saw it coming is a liar. Nadal had delivered a 6-1 6-0 beatdown a couple of weeks earlier in Rome, and there was every reason to expect it would happen again.

I remember thinking at the time that the match was fixed. There seemed no other logical explanation.

You may be right about that.

It's definitely one of the worst matches that I've ever seen him play at the French Open.

What stands out to me (as being particularly strange) is that he played a fantastic match against Lleyton Hewitt just one round earlier.

I know that Hewitt played Nadal completely the opposite of Soderling.

But Nadal was almost like a completely different player when he played against Soderling.

Lots of unforced errors and very poor returning from Nadal.

Soderling breezed through parts of their match and was rarely challenged on serve.

When you think back to the five consecutive breaks of serve that he had against him in Rome...yeah, it just doesn't add up.

 

[CHillTennis]

I read this article earlier today:

"Rafael Nadal Lost In 2009 Because Of The Weather"- Andy Roddick

The first time Rafael Nadal lost at the French Open was way back in 2009. Let's look at the reason Andy Roddick gives for why he lost

www.essentiallysports.com

Andy Roddick is quoted as saying that Nadal lost the 2009 French Open because the conditions didn't favor him.

I always though that the conditions were warmer that year. Which would explain why Soderling was able to hit the ball through Nadal.

They played each other at the French Open on three other occasions with the scoreline being very similar in all three of those other matches.

2006 Nadal d. Soderling 6-2, 7-5, 6-1

2010 Nadal d. Soderling 6-4, 6-2, 6-4

2011 Nadal d. Soderling 6-4, 6-1, 7-6

Could the conditions have really played that much of a difference?!

 

[WhiskeyEE]

I did. But I also saw it coming every other year. But that one time, I was a prophet.

 

[King No1e]

Edited your post for accuracy.

Fans of The Good Tennis**

 

[King No1e]

I read this article earlier today:

"Rafael Nadal Lost In 2009 Because Of The Weather"- Andy Roddick

The first time Rafael Nadal lost at the French Open was way back in 2009. Let's look at the reason Andy Roddick gives for why he lost

www.essentiallysports.com

Andy Roddick is quoted as saying that Nadal lost the 2009 French Open because the conditions didn't favor him.

I always though that the conditions were warmer that year. Which would explain why Soderling was able to hit the ball through Nadal.

They played each other at the French Open on three other occasions with the scoreline being very similar in all three of those other matches.

2006 Nadal d. Soderling 6-2, 7-5, 6-1

2010 Nadal d. Soderling 6-4, 6-2, 6-4

2011 Nadal d. Soderling 6-4, 6-1, 7-6

Could the conditions have really played that much of a difference?!

It was a case of a great clay-courter beating a GOAT clay-courter. Massive upset given how dominant Nadal was at RG, but if I had to pick the most likely players to beat Nadal at RG at the turn of the decade, it would be Djokovic, Ferrer, and Soderling.

 

[CHillTennis]

It was a case of a great clay-courter beating a GOAT clay-courter. Massive upset given how dominant Nadal was at RG, but if I had to pick the most likely players to beat Nadal at RG at the turn of the decade, it would be Djokovic, Ferrer, and Soderling.

I think Djokovic would have had a good chance against him in 2011.

Were it not for the fact that he had won something like 42 consecutive matches (from late 2010-11) they probably would have played each other in the finals that year.

Federer should have beaten him in the finals of RG 2011.

 

[Swingmaster]

Soderling’s upset over Nadal is more memorable to me than any of Nadal’s French Open matches and I actually kind of hated Soderling at the time. Obviously Nadal is dominant there, and I’m not old, but did Nadal ever play a truly memorable match at the French, that he won? If so, I’d like to watch it.

 

[King No1e]

Soderling’s upset over Nadal is more memorable to me than any of Nadal’s French Open matches and I actually kind of hated Soderling at the time. Obviously Nadal is dominant there, and I’m not old, but did Nadal ever play a truly memorable match at the French, that he won? If so, I’d like to watch it.

2013 SF? That one's been living rent free in my head for years now.

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

Think about how tired Søderling is to hear about this.
Ive met him once and I mentioned it. That was pretty cringe as it was a bit rude, something I realised in the moment I said it. Sounding like some top 3 super fan only caring for the slam race and not tennis.
I don’t think Robin likes to feel that’s the only thing he did in his career.

 

[Swingmaster]

Think about how tired Søderling is to hear about this.
Ive met him once and I mentioned it. That was pretty cringe as it was a bit rude. I don’t think Robin likes to feel that’s the only thing he did in his career.

Oh, come on. I don’t think he had a problem with you mentioning it unless it was like, Arent you the guy who...

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

Oh, come on. I don’t think he had a problem with you mentioning it unless it was like, Arent you the guy who...

It was embarrassing, trust me.
After I said it I felt like some dumb forum idiot like most of us actually are. Called him the Rafa slayer Literally the ONLY thing I had to say about his career was that RG match and I met him in more of a private setting. I had plenty of time to say something interesting.
I saw he had the greatest respect for Rafa. Even more than me who is a Rafa fan. He has a different understanding how things are in pro tennis than what anyone in here can ever imagine. Whst we are discussing here is a bit.... well, very embarrassing to bring up to the people who actually has it as a job.

 

[Swingmaster]

It was embarrassing, trust me.
After I said it I felt like some dumb forum idiot like most of us actually are. Called him the Rafa slayer Literally the ONLY thing I had to say about his career was that RG match and I met him in more of a private setting. I had plenty of time to say something interesting.
I saw he had the greatest respect for Rafa. Even more than me who is a Rafa fan. He has a different understanding how things are in pro tennis than what anyone in here can ever imagine. Whst we are discussing here is a bit.... well, very embarrassing to bring up to the people who actually has it as a job.

You should’ve asked him for the secret to his power, though he’dve probably said core strength, not, like, mackerel or something.

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

You should’ve asked him for the secret to his power, though he’dve probably said core strength, not, like, mackerel or something.

We started to talk about Swedish tobacco which we are both into. Snus. But it was already awkward because of my Rafa slayer intro talk. I also had hijacked his chair (he was commentating a match and I was in the commentary room and watched the view from his chair). Which was also something strange maybe. My friend that works for the tv channel thought I had named my son after Robin, and said it in front of him too. Which I SO HAVE NOT! Another embarrassing moment, Ive never been a Søderling fan and i wouldnt name kids after a tennis player. Mamma Mia.
I chose after that to not watch the match from the commie box to sit with the courtside instead with some funny people from LAtvia. A man had borrowed his wife lipstick thinking it was lipsyl, it was lipsyl with colour. Got him into screaming Lord Guibis so Gulbis could hear it. One of the commies came down to sit with us. I hyped up Guibis as much as I could with the crowd. Not so easy as Swedish tennis viewers courtside are quite snobbish being royals there and men with half long hair and a lot of gel. It’s more snobbish than Wimbledon. The whole thing ended good!! It was fun!

 

[Swingmaster]

Speaking of Lord Gulbis, I have a feeling he’s going to be hanging up his racket after this long party break.I could be wrong though. He has surprised me by hanging around this long. He once said that he’d quit if he couldn’t be among the best.

 

[CHillTennis]

Soderling’s upset over Nadal is more memorable to me than any of Nadal’s French Open matches and I actually kind of hated Soderling at the time. Obviously Nadal is dominant there, and I’m not old, but did Nadal ever play a truly memorable match at the French, that he won? If so, I’d like to watch it.

Yeah. There's a few of them over the years that were pretty entertaining.

Here are some of my favorites:

Djokovic vs Nadal 2012 FO Finals
Djokovic vs Nadal 2013 FO semis
Isner vs Nadal 2011 FO 1st Round
Federer vs Nadal 2011 FO Finals
Thiem vs Nadal 2019 FO Finals
Puerta vs Nadal 2005 FO Finals

The matches that he had against Djokovic between 2012-14 are some of the best clay court matches that you will ever see.

I would definitely consider their semi-final match at RG 2013 to be an absolute classic!

 

[CHillTennis]

Think about how tired Søderling is to hear about this.
Ive met him once and I mentioned it. That was pretty cringe as it was a bit rude, something I realised in the moment I said it. Sounding like some top 3 super fan only caring for the slam race and not tennis.
I don’t think Robin likes to feel that’s the only thing he did in his career.

I would not say that it's the only thing that he ever did.

However, it's such an incredible accomplishment that it tends to overshadow his other accomplishments.

Robin Soderling proved himself to be a legitimate top level player when he made it to the finals of RG again in 2010. Beating Federer along the way.

When you think about some of the other contemporaries from his time period; Berdych, Tsonga, and Verdasco.

Soderling (in my opinion) was on a completely different level from them.

He had the wins over the big 3 at the slams and was a multiple time grand slam finalist.

It's a shame that he retired at only 27 years old.

He would have had a legitimate chance to win a slam, if he'd stayed healthy through the mid-2010s.

 

[Walle]

Speaking of Lord Gulbis, I have a feeling he’s going to be hanging up his racket after this long party break.I could be wrong though. He has surprised me by hanging around this long. He once said that he’d quit if he couldn’t be among the best.

He played an exho in Tallinn (Estonia vs Latvia) with Ostapenko, Sevastova and 18 y/o Karlis Ozolins vs Estonia (Kontaveit, Kanepi, Zopp, Ivanov) and won both his singles last week. Said that if his body allows it he still has 3-5 years in him. He's entered two Challengers in Prague when the season starts again. So no, not quite hanging up his racket yet.