Key moments

This year Roger Federer cried twice in a final of Grand Slam. First time they were tears of self-pity, but the next time he ensured they were tears of joy. The tears were enough retribution for the champion, who lost his Wimbledon crown and the Australian Open final to his greatest nemesis, Rafael Nadal.

The French Open 2009 will go down in history as the one of the best ever, with the greatest tennis player claiming what was seriously wanting in his career graph.
This year like 2008 seemed to belong to the likes of Nadal, Djokovic and Murray.
But true to its reputation the French Open produced plenty of surprises and disappointments. Looking back at the key moments, what is striking is that only Roger Federer of the Big Four survived the rigours of the red dirt.

Biggest Upset: No doubt the exit of King of Clay, Rafael Nadal. The inexorable World No 1 and four-time champion here had never lost a match here since his debut in 2005. But thanks to a certain Swede Robin Soderling, Nadal received a rude jolt to his bid for a record fifth title at the terre battue. While this year Nadal will have to do without his usual birthday present at the French Open, Roger Federer had the most unlikely of opponent in the final - Robin Soderling.

Second big upset: Novak Djokovic. The Serbian World No 4 had a creditable season on clay and was touted to be the most likely of candidates to (maybe, possibly) topple Nadal. In the finals at Monte Carlo, Djokovic took a set off Nadal and in Madrid he engaged the Mallorcan in a four-hour semifinal duel and almost made it. But the Serbian, who had the second best season on clay after Nadal, came up short in his French Open expectations losing to unfancied opponent Philip Kohlschreiber of Germany in the third round.

Man of the moment: None other than the fluid Swiss maestro, Roger Federer. The World No 2 had a shaky start to his Open bid, with unconvincing victories over Paul Henri-Matheiu and Tommy Haas. Gael Monfils looked a tough quarterfinal opponent as the Frenchman had shown some stiff resistance in the 2008 semifinal here against Federer. Once through the starting jitters, it was sheer finesse from the Swiss. In the semifinals, Federer survived a Del Potro scare to make it to his 19th Grand Slam final and his fourth French Open final. But this time his opponent was not his nemesis Nadal, but the Swede Soderling against whom he has a convincing record. No doubt the Swiss was the outright favourite to win the championship and the unflagging support he commanded showed his popularity with the French crowd. With the whole world rallying for Federer, the Swiss ensured he did not cave in to the pressure. He once again beat Soderling in straight sets to clinch the only missing silverware from his arsenal, and in the process complete his career slam.

Man, who created the moment: Robin Soderling: The Nadal-slayer, conqueror, not only played the tennis of his life-time to outclass the World No 1 and send him packing in the fourth round but also booked a place for himself in the final. The top seed looked lost and out of ideas against the booming big serves and accurate groundstrokes of the World No 25. In the process, the Swede also ensured that Nadal did not surpass his countryman Bjorn Borg’s record of four consecutive titles at Roland Garros. With the exit of Nadal, the biggest benefitter was Federer, who lost three consecutive finals to Nadal here. All eyes were on Federer to lift the title.

First timers: It was for the first time Robin Soderling had reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam in his career. Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova made her first appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal. Australia's Samantha Stosur beat Romanian teenager Sorana Cirstea to qualify for her first ever Grand Slam semifinal.
Romania's Sorana Cirstea stunned fifth seed Jelena Jankovic to reach her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal. She was the first Romanian woman in a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Irina Spirlea at the 1997 US Open.

Last timers: Fabrice Santoro and Marat Safin:
Russia’s former World No 1 and two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin survived the first hurdle but lost to France’s Josselin Ouanna in a tightly fought match in the second round. Safin insists it will be his last year on the tour.
The 36-year-old Santoro, a Frenchman playing for the 20th time here, has never won any majors. His best result was a quarterfinal showing at the Australian Open in 2006. But even Federer and Nadal paid due tributes to the Frenchman, appreciating his unique technique and tactician’s mind-set that brought many a delightful moments to the fans.

Andys rock: Both Andy Roddick and Andy Murray surprised themselves by breezing into the second week at Roland Garros. Clay has not been a favourite with the Brit. However, having reached the semifinals in Monte Carlo and quarterfinals in Madrid and Paris it has been the best season on clay for the new World No 3. For American Andy Roddick it was the first fourth round match of his career at Roland Garros. The former World No.1 went out in the first round here in 2006 and 2007 and missed last year's tournament with a shoulder injury.

Comeback queen: Maria Sharapova: Having shown no favourable proclivity to the red dirt in her career and sidelined by a shoulder injury for almost 10 months, it was her first major on comeback. Coming in ranked No 102, the Russian played without fear and expectations, battling tenaciously through four three-set matches to reach the last eight. Though, she was thrashed by Cibulkova 6-0, 6-2 in the semis, the Russian girl is optimistic and believes it was a good start.

Comeback King: Roger Federer: The Swiss master rallied from a two-set deficit in his fourth-round match against Germany’s Tommy Haas only to toy with him in the latter three sets.

Rising star: Michelle Larcher de Brito
Portugal’s 16-year-old teenager de Brito, ranked 132, came through qualifying and on made it to the last 32 ousting China's 15th seed Zheng Jie.

Mellowdrama: Again Michelle Larcher de Brito.
Brito and France's Aravane Rezai were involved in a bad-tempered third-round clash where the latter complained the ear-splitting screams of the teenager were disconcerting.

Opportunity wide Open!

Guess it was a watershed day in history! Little known Swede Robin Soderling did what none of the big guys could do! He beat the King of Clay in four sets on his favourite surface, on the red dirt of his favourite tournament. It was definitely a rude jolt for World No 1 Nadal vying for his fifth straight title at Roland Garros.
For the last four years Nadal domination at the tournament was nonpareil. Such was his mastery on clay that even taking a set off Nadal would itself be an achievement. Since the 2007 final, where he lost a set to Federer, Nadal had not even lost a set in the tournament. So, little did anybody contemplate or even comprehend the World No 25 Swede beating Nadal.
Nadal’s defeat came at a time when the champion had proved that clay courts were not his only demesnes and he could wallow on the grass of Wimbledon and hard court of Australia as well. The aura of invincibility that had enveloped Federer for so long, had suddenly entwined another. The tennis world was out of ideas on how to play Nadal. The question was who could crack the Nadal clay code?
Djokovic? The World No 3 took a set off Nadal at the Monte Carlo finals. Close. Closer still? Djokovic played a four hour, forty minutes semifinal against Nadal in the Madrid finals. The match could have gone either way. In the end Nadal’s tenacity was the winner. Yet there was hope. Another match, another final and maybe Djokovic would do it. But Djokovic’s loss in Madrid was Federer’s gain. The Serbian No 4 tired the World No 1 to such an extent that next day in the finals it was a jaded Nadal that took on Federer only to lose in straight sets. But not to discount Federer’s efforts, even a five set thriller would not have sapped the energy levels of the Swiss. That’s the kind of game the Swiss plays. Facile backhands, lethal service games tossed with sheer finesse and grace. If the physicality of Nadal’s game propelled him to the highest echelons, it was also his pitfall. After all fitness is what determines a champion. How many times does Federer complain of injury? How many tournaments has Federer missed? Few. On the other hand, burn out at the end of the season is a common feature for Nadal. In 2008, Nadal missed the Masters Cup. Everytime he has played an exceptionally demanding semifinal, Nadal has been found wanting in the finals. (Chennai Open 2008, Madrid Masters 2009).
In the match against Soderling, Nadal looked patchy and out of sorts as he had no answer to some of the Swede’s thundering shots. It was always thought the only way to beat Nadal on clay would be to keep the points shot. And Soderling had done his homework. He did exactly that and came out with flying colours. Soderling did everything that tennis lovers wanted Federer to do. Now that Nadal is out, the expectancy to lift the only silverware missing from his arsenal rests onerous on Federer. Nothing could further the drama than the Swiss maestro winning the French Open and completing his career Grand Slam. That would be his one unfailing dream and so of die-hard Fedex fans’ like me!