King of Clay Hits the Dirt

Yesterday saw perhaps the biggest upset of the sporting year with Rafael Nadal's first loss at Roland Garros. The 23rd seed, Robin Soderling, won after 3 hr 30 mins, 6-2, 6-7(2-7), 6-4, 7-6(7-2) . I was in the stands for the concluding sets when they played a five-setter (over 5(!) days due to rain delays & the schedule) at Wimbledon 2007. Then, every time it seemed Nadal had nailed the lid on the Swede's coffin, he would come back from the dead & break back.
That encounter had clearly given him the confidence that he could compete with Rafa. Incredibly, only four weeks ago, Rafa had beaten him in Rome for the loss of only one game.
Rafa made a uncharacteristic number of unforced errors, but all credit to the Swede, he was hitting his groundstrokes with great depth & power, especially the forehand, & hit an incredible 61 winners.
Obviously Nadal's exit removed a huge obstacle for the other favourites, Federer & Murray (2nd & third seeds respectively).Both still have some tough matches to reach the final: probably Del Potro in the semi for Fed (though he has a 5-0 record against him) , while Murray has Gonzalez who can be brilliant or erratic, & Davydenko a possible semi-final opponent.
The ladies' defending champion also lost yesterday, but that was not such a massive shock. Ivanovic was seeded 8th & has lost form & confidence since she took the no. 1 ranking after wining here last year. The no. 1 seed, Safina has been in awesome form, & a final between her & Serena seems likely.