A Day That Will Live in Infamy

It was inevitable, really, and yet I never truly believed until the last point was over. After 23 straight appearances in Grand Slam semifinals, Roger Federer lost today in a quarterfinal match against Robin Soderling, who is not coincidentally the same man who ended Rafael Nadal's 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros last year. Roger's streak was preposterous to start with, dating back over six years to May 2004, and it was longer than the second and third place streaks combined (Ivan Lendl and Rod Laver both reached 10 straight semis). Still, the very fact that it had lasted this long, during which time I've watched all 23 of those semifinal appearances, made it nigh impossible to believe that it could ever end. Even against Soderling, who was destined to forever be known as The Man Who Beat Nadal, I was confident; Federer had beaten him all 12 times they'd played, including in the final here last year and in the quarters at last year's U.S. Open.

But to use a boxing analogy, Soderling always has a puncher's chance, much like Tomas Berdych, who also gave Roger two five-set scares in the majors in recent years (and who just happens to be Soderling's opponent in the semifinals). And so it was today. It's hard to say that Roger even LOST the match. It's more like Soderling violently stole it from him, pounding shot after shot, asphyxiating Federer with the weight of his forehand. After the rain delay at 5-5 in the third (they split the first two sets, 6-3 each), which was all I got to see of the match, thanks to the perplexing intricacies of American television coverage, Soderling hardly missed a ball. And although the stat sheet shows that Federer hit almost as many winners as Soderling in that fourth set, it is misleading. Soderling's shots were much more punishing, pushing Roger around the court and never letting him reset the rally to neutral. Thus many of his shots were de facto winners; Roger may have gotten his racquet on the ball, but he no longer had any realistic chance of winning the point.

Even after Soderling broke for 5-4 in the fourth, even after he was up double match point on his serve, I still believed, deep down, that he'd find a way to claw out of it, as he's done so many times before. Never mind that the trouble he faced was much graver than any of his previous escapes. This is Roger Federer we're talking about, and he simply does not lose in Grand Slam quarters. But Soderling is no Tomas Berdych. He has been there before. He has beaten Rafael Nadal on the terre battue, something that no other human can claim. He never wavered, and his style of play was a driving factor. Every tennis player knows that the best way to conquer nerves is simply to swing as hard as you can. It prevents your brain from doing too much work.

I don't know if it makes it better or worse that Federer lost to someone as unlikeable as Soderling. As Peter Bodo of Tennis Magazine memorably said after his defeat of Nadal last year:

"It would be a lot different if Nadal had been beaten by some guy with curly chestnut locks, a sister dying of some rare disease, soulful baby blue eyes, and a foundation dedicated to saving the African rhino. Robin Soderling is not that guy: He's got dark peach-fuzz on his head, budding mutton chops on his cheeks, and bayonet-grey eyes. If he had a sibling, he probably choked her to death long ago, and can't you see him tooling around the cobbled streets of his native Tibro in Sweden, in a beat-up Mitsubishi bearing the bumper sticker: Caution: I Speed Up and Try to Kill Furry Little Animals."

He's known for being aloof toward other players, and he openly antagonized Rafa in their match at Wimbledon in 2008, which Nadal eventually won. When you're on the bad side of both Roger and Rafa, you're less than scum in the eyes of the tennis community, for as everyone knows, only one thing is certain in tennis fandom: half the people love Roger, half the people love Rafa, and everybody loves Marat Safin.

But perhaps that's overly harsh. I didn't hate Soderling when he graciously allowed Roger to beat him in the final last year. And even now, the disappointment is tempered by the knowledge that at least Roger finally won here last year. Now I'm faced with quite a dilemma. For the first time since 2005--barring a freak car accident or something--Rafa will be in the final of a major against someone other than Fed. I assume that Soderling will defeat Berdych, although Berdych won their last meeting, so does that mean I'll have to pull for Rafa in the final? I'm not used to making these kinds of decision. But one way or the other, one thing is certain. Robin Soderling will not defeat Rafa Nadal here again. Make a note of it.