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Roland Garros 2009
Soderling onward and upward, Sharapova outward ho
by Paul Myers
Article published on the 2009-06-03 Latest update 2009-06-05 14:39 TU
Swedish Robin Soderling beating Russian Nicolas Davydenko, in French Open quarter final, 2 June 2009
(Photo: Reuters/Vincent Kessler)
Just as we were thinking that all this tennis was stupendously important, we were given a reality check. Before the start of the day’s play there was a minute of silence for those lost aboard the Air France flight between Brazil and France. It was a sombre way to begin proceedings. Once we were underway there were the usual thrills and spills.
For example we gasped at the top seed Dinara Safina. In her four matches to the quarter finals, she had dropped just five games. All of a sudden she’d lost six to the ninth seed Victoria Azarenka from Belarus. The world number one turned on the power and surged ahead only to be reined in before clicking into her grid again. No shock there. Safina will play the 20 year-old Dominika Cibulkova for a place in Saturday’s final. The 20th seed dismissed the former top seed Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-2. It could have been worse for La Sharapova, she saved a match point at 6-0, 5-0.
"I don't really care about numbers," said Sharapova after the worst Grand Slam defeat of her career. "It's either a 'W' or an 'L', and I prefer 'W'. You know, if it's 7-6 in the third and you come out with a loss, I mean, what's the difference?" Fair point. And she like the rest of the tennis world won’t be reading too much into this defeat. She’s shown her pedigree by getting through to the last eight on a surface that’s not her natural habitat in only her second tournament back from injury.
Surprisingly Robin Soderling, Rafael Nadal’s conqueror, was put on the second show court – Suzanne Lenglen – for his last-eight match against the Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko. And the question was would the Swede repeat his feats? In many ways he eclipsed himself. It was 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and 48 minutes. Ominously impressive for a man playing in his first grand slam quarter final. No sign of nerves just pure hitting. At times Davydenko was just an adjunct to the Swede’s smell of success.
What of the other quarter finals? Will Gael Monfils get past Roger Federer? They had a battle royal last year in the semi finals which Federer won. That was for the right to face Nadal in the final. This time the winner knows that he’ll have a genuine chance of the crown. Under normal circumstances you’d have to say Federer. But that evaluation is on his past. Here and now, he’s looked ever so vulnerable and hasn’t been exuding the sheen of brilliance that once dazzled anyone foolish enough to approach.
Monfils says he’s playing without pressure but so close to becoming the first Frenchman to get to the final in a couple of decades does carry a load. And of course the irony would be if Monfils won the title in the year when French tennis’s long anointed heir to the throne Richard Gasquet is out due to a failed drugs test.
This is pure soap opera – we hardly need reality checks.
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