Monday, June 01, 2009

Rafael Nadal 'King of Clay' no more!

Well, here is something I never thought I would see much less write.

The 4 year reigning French Open Champion Rafa Nadal has been de-crowned as the 'King of Clay'.

Sweden's Robin Soderling carved himself a spot in Tennis history by beating 'The Clay Monster' in four amazing sets.

Ending Nadal's 31 match winning streak. Thus leaving the field wide open, and filling Federer fans with a sliver of hope.

Of course it is too soon to say, because (at the time I write this) Federer has a lot more hurdles to get over before we can really talk about the possibility of his first ever French Open title (and that elusive 14th Grand Slam).

But, oh what a day that would be!.

And if there ever was the perfect time for Federer to win this would be it.

I've been following the French Open really sporadically this year, because since Nadal took over there has been no point. After today however I am tunning in!.

And you can bet that like the rest of the world I'll be paying a lot more attention to Robin Soderling from now on (though I do hope his sportsmenship improves).

I have to admit that I do have somewhat mixed emotions about the whole thing.

As a Federer fan I'm ecstatic, and yet I can't help but feel sympathy for Nadal (and I never thought I would).

I don't know whether it's the fact that he didn't seem to be at his best, or the fact that he got knocked out by a lower ranked player.

In anycase Roland Garros just got a hell of a lot more interesting!.

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