Four-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal's reign as the king of clay has come to and end with a 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-2) defeat to Robin Soderling.
The world number one had not lost a match at Roland Garros since his debut in the clay court Grand Slam in 2005 and had looked on course for a record fifth successive title in the tournament.
But in one of the greatest upsets in the competition's history, the Spanish star's 31-match winning run was brought to an end by the 23rd seed.
Swede Soderling will now meet Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko for a place in the semi-finals and he could not be happier.
"I just couldn't believe it when I won that last
« Last Edit: Jun 01, 2009 09:36:54 am by Court LFC »
Logged