And Finally...

And finally...the great Rafael Nadal is beaten at Roland Garros. What a moment for Robin Soderling! He played brilliantly firing so many aces and no double faults in the entire match. The highlight of the match was Robin's forehand which was so effective against possibly the best defensive player on this surface.

I have always felt that you need more than one of the following to beat Nadal on clay:

1. Very strong ground strokes and reasonable back hand to keep Nadal in defensive position
2. Good net play and volleys to cut short the number of shots played to win a point
3. Reasonably tall player to combat short balls, which will come in plenty - Remember Federer playing most of the balls about shoulder high or above (most of them on the back hand side too) in the last few finals?
4. Smaller court (not an option @ French Open since Nadal always plays on main court)
5. Dry and sunny weather, so the court plays a lot harder

Robin had so many things going in his favor yesterday and he played a blinder to win an epic match. Nadal will now understand the difficulties and pressure that comes with #1 ranking.

Nadal was dominating so much @ French Open that everyone almost failed to understand what a good player Roger Federer is on this surface (Losing finalist in the last 3 editions). Now, the ball is in your court Roger!