Athletistic / Tennis. Nothing is forever. Every mechanism sooner or later finds itself running out of resources. What can we say about a person, yet legendary and even unique. This is exactly how one can react to Rafael Nadal’s first round defeat at Roland Garros 2024.

It’s hard to blame Raf for anything. The Spaniard, still 37 years old (in a week, on June 3, he will celebrate his 38th birthday), managed, despite serious injuries, to prepare for most of the season on clay and came to Paris for his tournament favorite. Only he knows what it cost him. From the outside, it looks like several years of life. But Nadal overcame everything and showed up at Roland Garros. However, this time the tournament was not happy for him.

Already during the draw it became clear that Nadal could quickly be eliminated from the clay court Slam, because his opponent for the first round match was the fourth racket in the world, Alexander Zverev. The German won the Masters in Rome just over a week ago and is definitely in near-ideal form. As a result, Zverev defeated Nadal in three sets (you can’t say that without a fight) and eliminated Rafa for the first time since such an early round of Roland Garros.

It is noteworthy that Alexandre became only the third tennis player to beat Nadal in Paris. Novak Djokovic achieved this twice (quarterfinals – 2015, semifinals – 2021), and the first time it happened was in 2009, when Swede Robin Soderling stopped Rafa at the stadium 1/8 final.

Photo source: image from the show

Nadal made his debut in the senior main draw at Roland Garros in 2005 and became a winner on his first try. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, the Spaniard forced Paris to applaud him, after which he went with the cup to a traditional photo session near the Eiffel Tower. By 2009, Rafa had reached his peak and was in incredible shape. In January, he won the Australian Open for the first time and arrived at Roland Garros as the first racket in the world. Already on May 19, six months (!) before the final ATP tournament, Nadal qualified. Paris awaited its fifth consecutive triumph.

Rafa started the tournament with a victory over Brazilian Marcos Daniel. In the next round, the Spaniard did not give Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili any chance, allowing him only seven games during the match. Nadal’s next opponent was the former world tennis leader, Australian Lleyton Hewitt. This match was interesting not only by the confrontation between the former and the current first racket of the world, but also by the fact that if Rafa won, he could set a record for consecutive victories at Roland Garros. As a result, Nadal did not spare the representative of the green continent and, having allowed him only five matches, set a record – 31 consecutive victories in Paris. The path to Nadal’s 32nd victory was through Robin Soderling.

Soderling was seeded 23rd at Roland Garros 2009 and had never reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament before. Interestingly, the most famous moment of Robin’s career involved Nadal. In 2007, at Wimbledon, the Swede Robin and the forces of nature made the Spaniard very furious. Their grass match was interrupted nine times due to rain and lasted five (!) days. This alone could infuriate anyone, even the coldest athlete. Well, the final straw was the lack of respect from Soderling, who, to the applause of fans, ridiculed the Spaniard’s ritual of straightening his hair, shorts and socks , and also rejoiced in the points he got after hitting the ball into the net.

Photo source: AFP

In the end, Nadal won, and after the match he could not contain his emotions and said in very precise English:

— How did he behave (Soderling — Environ Athletistic)? To be honest, it was just disgusting. Let’s see who ends up where in life, shall we?

On May 31, 2009, Paris experienced one of the best matches of the 2000s. Nadal started the match very badly, losing the first set with a score of 2:6. Soderling exuded incredible confidence and made virtually no mistakes. It is important to note that Rafa arrived in the French capital with unhealed knees, which greatly affected his ability to create magic on the pitch. However, the most important factor that decided the outcome of the match was Nadal’s mistakes. Apparently, the Swede managed to get under Rafa’s skin and make him think about something other than tennis. Even after winning the tiebreaker in the second set, Nadal was unable to turn the tide of the match. Soderling won the third set with a score of 6:4 and brought Rafa closer to his first defeat at the Farnese Open.

The stands didn’t help Nadal either. Suddenly, instead of the usual chanting of the Spaniard’s name, they shouted “Robin!” Rob-bin! » in the stands of the Court named after Philippe Chatrier. Nadal would later remind fans of this, criticizing their behavior during the post-match press conference.

“It’s very unfortunate that in such an important tournament for me, the fans would never do something like that towards me. However, I am not looking for excuses now, because I still have many years to achieve this. I hope that one day the Parisian public will support me like thisNadal complained.

In the fourth set, Soderling beat Nadal in the tie-break and inflicted the Spaniard’s first defeat on Parisian clay. It is noteworthy that Rafa’s next defeat at Roland Garros will take place six years later (during this time he will be able to win Roland Garros five more times).

Photo source: rolandgarros.com

It is worth noting that the Swede himself is not the only one who was delighted with Soderling’s sensational victory. The fact is that the legendary Roger Federer at that time could not close his career with a “helmet”. At that time he was a 13-time TBS winner, but was unable to celebrate his triumph in Paris. And in Nadal’s time, it was very difficult for him to do that. At this tournament, the Spaniard and the Swiss could only meet in the final, but Rafa failed to reach the decisive stage of the tournament.

As a result, Federer and Soderling will meet in the final of Roland Garros 2009. Roger will win the first set without any problems (6:1), in the second match he will experience a crisis in the game, but will still be able to close the match with a tie-break (7:6), then takes the last step towards the long-awaited trophy (6:4) and falls exhausted on the court, covering his face with his hands. The Swiss has won the career Grand Slam and did it before Nadal (Rafa would get there in September 2010 after winning the US Open). It’s funny that this victory at Roland Garros remains the only one in Federer’s collection.

Photo source: rolandgarros.com

Nadal took revenge on Soderling in 2010, beating him in the Roland-Garros final in three sets with a score of 6:4, 6:2, 6:4. The Swede will never be able to become the winner of at least one Grand Slam tournament and, due to mononucleosis, will end his career in 2011 (Robin will officially announce this only in November 2015).

And Nadal still plays today. Most likely, the time is approaching when he will announce his retirement. But the Spaniard will do it as a 22-time TBS winner and one of the best tennis players in history. The author of these lines wants this to happen no sooner than the moment when the referee on the tower at least once more declares: “Game, set and match.”

Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic



Athletistic