Nadal out of French Open

[sparkiehibs]

Soderland, the swiss no. 23 has just put out rafael Nadal 3 sets to 1

[Sir David Gray]

RAFAEL NADAL IS OUT!!!! :shocked:

After 4 titles in a row, unbeaten at Roland Garros in his entire career, 31 straight sets at the French Open before today, he was finally defeated today by Robin Soderling.

He played some fantastic stuff and eventually came through it 6-2 6-7 6-4 7-6.

After Novak Djokovic's exit yesterday, it must give Roger Federer his best chance ever of completing the Grand Slam. He has a potential semi final meeting against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Juan Martin Del Potro, which will not be easy. However, with Nadal going out it must give him real hope.

It must also give Andy Murray some encouragement as well. He won against Marin Cilic in straight sets today and now plays Fernando Gonzalez in the quarter finals.

[7Hero]

would love to see murray win this, although may be just a bit ealry in his career, with a wee bit of luck you never know.

what are the odds of federer going out and murray being highest seed left and doing a "Hibs" and losing it..

[PC Stamp]

would love to see murray win this, although may be just a bit ealry in his career, with a wee bit of luck you never know.

what are the odds of federer going out and murray being highest seed left and doing a "Hibs" and losing it..

Federer has to be favourite now. Andy has a terrific record against him recently however ....

1. It's on clay which is not Andy's favourite surface.
2. It's a slam tourney and his wins over Federer have all been in three set tourneys.

Still with both Nadal & Djokovic gone there's a great opportunity opening up.

[lyonhibs]

I can't help but feeling that the gods have aligned to give Murray his best shot at a Grand Slam for a while. I still have my lingering doubts about his capacity in 5 setters in later rounds of Grand Slams against the very best, but with every Slam he removes them bit-by-bit.

I hope to hell he does it, as I do every Grand Slam.

Gaun Yerself son!!!! :agree::hnet:

GGTTH

[Wilson]

Murray will have his work cut out against Gonzo...

While I agree a great opportunity has opened up it applies to everyone left in the tournament. They will all be boosted by Nadal's defeat. None more so than Federer.

I expect Fed should have this in the bag now though - as much as I hate to say it.

[Greentinted]

Murray will have his work cut out against Gonzo...

While I agree a great opportunity has opened up it applies to everyone left in the tournament. They will all be boosted by Nadal's defeat. None more so than Federer.

I expect Fed should have this in the bag now though - as much as I hate to say it.

He's looking at a famous comeback if he is to continue - presently 2-0 down and 2-1 down in the 3rd against Tommy Haas!

[Wilson]

He's looking at a famous comeback if he is to continue - presently 2-0 down and 2-1 down in the 3rd against Tommy Haas!

Comeback is on. Won the third and three games up in the 4th.

[--------]

Comeback is on. Won the third and three games up in the 4th.


3-2 up in the fifth now. Don't know how serve has gone....


Is John Lloyd the most boring commentator int he world, or is that still Brendan Foster? :rolleyes:

[Greentinted]

Federer does it again. Fair play to him, a giant in the world of sport!

[PC Stamp]

And a 5 setter to boot to sap his energy a wee bit. Next up for him is Roddick or Monfils. Neither a formality!

[Sir David Gray]

I'm going to be really unpopular here but as much as I love seeing Murray doing well, I want Federer to win the French Open.

It is the only Grand Slam he has yet to win and if he wins it, he would become only the third man (after Rod Laver and Andre Agassi) to achieve the career Grand Slam (winning Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open during the course of your career) since the beginning of the Open Era.

Winning the French Open would also mean he would equal Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

It is unlikely that Nadal is going to be as poor at the French Open next year, so this is Federer's one big chance to finally win it.

If it had been against anyone else or if it had been at any other tournament, I would want Murray to win without any second thoughts. But on this occasion, I have to go for Roger.

The men's quarter final draw now looks like this;

Robin Soderling v Nikolay Davydenko (Soderling leads head-to-head 3-2 and has won both previous meetings on clay.)
Andy Murray v Fernando Gonzalez (Head-to-head is 1-1 and last meeting was nearly 3 years ago. They have never met on clay.)
Juan Martin Del Potro v Tommy Robredo (Del Potro leads head-to-head 1-0. Only meeting was 2 years ago but not on clay.)
Roger Federer v Gael Monfils (Federer leads head-to-head 4-0, two of which were on clay. Last meeting was last year at the French Open when Federer won in 4 sets.)

I think the semi final line-up will be;

Davydenko v Murray.

I know I'm going against the history books but I think Soderling's performance against Nadal was a one off and Davydenko has been playing really well in this tournament. I think Murray will win against Gonzalez but it will be a really tough match as he is a good player and has a massive forehand.

Del Potro v Federer.

Del Potro is an outside bet to win the whole thing so I really can't see him having many problems in getting past Robredo. Federer's record against Monfils is very impressive and Monfils sometimes struggles with his emotions. I think Federer will be too good for him.

Final

Murray v Federer.

Murray is 4-4 with Davydenko and has won their only previous match on clay. It would be a huge test for Murray but I would back him to come through it. Surprisingly, Federer has an outstanding record against Del Potro. He currently leads 5-0 and, not only that, Del Potro has yet to even take a set off Federer.

Winner-A. Murray. Although I hope Federer wins it, I think if they were to meet in the final, Murray would win it. He leads the head-to-head 6-2, althought they have never met on clay before. I think Murray will have learned a lot after his hammering in the US Open final last year.

[Sir David Gray]

Oh well my predictions haven't got off to the best of starts!

Robin Soderling absolutely wiped the floor with Nikolay Davydenko earlier today, winning 6-1 6-3 6-1. He will now play the winner of Andy Murray v Fernando Gonzalez in the semi finals. At the moment it looks as if I'll be wrong with that match too as Gonzalez has just won the first set 6-3.

[PC Stamp]

Murray out in 4 sets. Absolutely honking would describe his performance even allowing for his clay court shortcomings.

[Sir David Gray]

Well my predictions for today were a bit better than yesterday!

Roger Federer hammered Gael Monfils 7-6 6-2 6-4 to reach the last four. He will now meet Juan Martin Del Potro after he also won in straight sets against Tommy Robredo.

It will probably be a very tough match for Federer but, as I said in my last post, his record against Del Potro is very impressive and it is also Del Potro's first ever appearance in a Grand Slam semi final. On the other hand, Federer will be appearing in the last four of a Grand Slam for the 20th consecutive time.

Del Potro isn't number five in the world rankings for nothing but I do feel that Federer's experience will take him through, although it may go to five sets.

[lyonhibs]

Soderling is through against Gonzales - the only Swede in either the mens or womens draw isn't doing too badly at all.

I believe his success has sent Swedish tv execs scampering to buy the tv rights for the later rounds such is the new-found level of interest in his homeland!!

[Sir David Gray]

Roger Federer comes through yet another five setter by defeating Juan Martin Del Potro and will now play Robin Soderling in Sunday's final.

He was two sets to one down but managed to win the last two sets and finally came through it 3-6 7-6 2-6 6-1 6-4.

Going purely on the head-to-head stats, the final should be no contest. They have met each other on nine previous occasions and Federer leads 9-0 - in fact Soderling has only ever won one set against Federer.

However, based on the way that Soderling has played in the past three matches, he cannot be disregarded by any means. He has put out the man who had never lost a match at Roland Garros and who also won the tournament last year without even losing a set, he then absolutely hammered the former world number three who has previously been to the semi finals at the French Open and now he has beaten a guy who is the former world number five and who convincingly knocked out Andy Murray in the previous round.

I believe that there is the potential for this to end up in a similar way to the US Open final last year when Andy Murray was basically overwhelmed by appearing in his first ever Grand Slam final and Federer beat him quite easily. Like Murray, Robin Soderling will also be appearing in his first ever Grand Slam final on Sunday

However there are a couple of differences from that final. Soderling is much more experienced than Murray was last year. He has been a professional for eight years and is 24 years old, whereas Murray had been a professional for just three years and was only 21 at the time.

Also, going into that US Open final, Federer had won four US Opens in a row but he has never won the French Open. That may have a significant impact on his mindset. He must know deep down that this is undoubtedly his biggest, and possibly his only, chance of finally winning the French Open. Rafael Nadal will probably be back challenging next year and Federer will be almost 30. There won't be many more chances for him to complete a career Grand Slam. As a result, Robin Soderling may be able to take advantage.

Having said all that, I fully expect Roger Federer to win and equal Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

Go, Roger! :thumbsup:

[Sir David Gray]

Roger Federer is the champion! :thumbsup:

He beat Robin Soderling 6-1 7-6 6-4.

He had to put up with heavy rain and a maniac invading the court, but he breezed through the match.

He has now won all four Grand Slams, becoming just the fifth male in the history of the game, and just the third since the Open Era began in 1968, to have completed a career Grand Slam. He has also now equalled Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

Well done, Roger and I hope you get number fifteen by regaining your Wimbledon crown in a few weeks. :thumbsup:

[lyonhibs]

Roger Federer is the champion! :thumbsup:

He beat Robin Soderling 6-1 7-6 6-4.

He had to put up with heavy rain and a maniac invading the court, but he breezed through the match.

He has now won all four Grand Slams, becoming just the fifth male in the history of the game, and just the third since the Open Era began in 1968, to have completed a career Grand Slam. He has also now equalled Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

Well done, Roger and I hope you get number fifteen by regaining your Wimbledon crown in a few weeks. :thumbsup:

Any idea what that nutter was waving in Federer's face?? Looked like some kind of red flag/banner?? :confused:

Anyway, throughly deserved. The man is an artist with a tennis racket.

[Sir David Gray]

Any idea what that nutter was waving in Federer's face?? Looked like some kind of red flag/banner?? :confused:

Anyway, throughly deserved. The man is an artist with a tennis racket.

I think it was a flag of some sort but I've got no idea as to what it actually said or anything like that.

It was quite a bizarre turn of events as he then went on to hurdle over the net and then fell all his length.

I'm really looking forward to Wimbledon now. I actually have tickets for Centre Court on the first Monday and then for the brand new Court Two the following day so I should get to see some top players. It's the first time I've ever been so I can't wait.

In case anyone wants to seek me out on the telly, I'll be wearing a jimmy hat and my new Hibs top and I'll also be waving my Saltire. :thumbsup:

Hopefully that should get picked up by the cameras, especially if Andy Murray happens to be playing on the Monday. :greengrin

[cleanyman]

Roger Federer is the champion! :thumbsup:

He beat Robin Soderling 6-1 7-6 6-4.

He had to put up with heavy rain and a maniac invading the court, but he breezed through the match.

He has now won all four Grand Slams, becoming just the fifth male in the history of the game, and just the third since the Open Era began in 1968, to have completed a career Grand Slam. He has also now equalled Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

Well done, Roger and I hope you get number fifteen by regaining your Wimbledon crown in a few weeks. :thumbsup:

Someone's jumping on the bandwagon! Unlike a long supporter of Federer like myself. Poor show big yin, poor show:wink:

[Sir David Gray]

Someone's jumping on the bandwagon! Unlike a long supporter of Federer like myself. Poor show big yin, poor show:wink:

I don't know what you're talking about.

I've always been a fan. Roger (I call him Roge or the Fed-man) and I go back years.

Someone's just jealous. :na na:

:greengrin