If Eiffel Tower had fallen down, or if the Leaning tower of Pisa had leaned further, I would not have been so shocked than what shocked me yesterday.
The unbeatable Rafael Nadal was shown the door at Philippe Chatrier Centre Court of Roland Garros by an unheralded 23rd seed Robin Soderling of Sweden yesterday in the 4th round of French Open.
The rectangle piece of clay which had become Rafa’s property where he owned every inch of the surface was finally bought over. No trespassing was allowed on it for the last 4 years and offenders were severely punished by the man the tennis world thought will never be able to defeat on this surface. But that equation changed yesterday and the result proved that Rafa is after all a human on the Roland Garros centre court.
Enter Robin Soderling. The 23rd seed walked in to the court, took his 4th round match as just another one, played the best match of his life and beat Rafa to hand over the biggest ever gift to Federer. We will know in the next seven days, whether the Swiss ace will make the most of this precious gift or in turn hands it over to Andy Murray.
The Roland Garros centre court yesterday had everything except Rafael Nadal!
A touch of magic, a speck of inevitability, a glimmer of hope, the joy of victory, a veneer of sadness…a plethora of class from the victor and the vanquished.
Life, often is karmic, comes a full circle. As opposed to the popular prediction of a three setter victory for Nadal, little did one contemplate a four-set blowout for the world No.1. The problem with blowout is, it is either excruciatingly painful or a connoisseur’s delight, depending on which side of the net you are on.
Quite a masterpiece it was, breathtaking clay court tennis showcased by Robin Soderling on the grandest of stages. May be Soderling didn’t want to let go his fellow country man and his idol Bjorn Borg’s record to be erased by Rafael Nadal this year—if that’s not motivation enough, what else could be? It was one of those rare instances, where the result of the match did not pivot on what the opponent did.
As Soderling muscled, intimidated, exasperated, and chased Rafa to submission, he reduced Mr. Invincible to an entity we have not seen in a long time.
He reduced Rafa to a little, lost, edgy, desperate, and indecisive tennis player, who actually did not know what to do on court. Rafa tried everything in his arsenal, but he had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide; and he was…beaten. Beaten in 4 sets with the score that read 6–2, 6–7 (2), 6–4, 7–6 (2).
As painful as it is, one has to wonder—did Rafa’s dream of conquering Bjorn Borg’s record faded forever? The answer is Yes.
Rafael Nadal now possibly cannot wait to board the flight to Heathrow, London.
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