May the best man win in RG.

Comisseration to Rafa KADs.

Soderling played very well, and Nadal looks a touch flat out there (likely caused by Soderling good play).

Nadal sure looks pissed at the camera man at the tunnel...

So, so so sad for Rafa. I think this is worse than Fed at Wimby: losing possibly the greatest match of all time to Rafa in the finals just isn't the same as losing in round 4 to Soderling.

Rafa will be back, he's Rafa. But god he must be gutted.

Huge hugs to Rafa and his many, many KADS (including this bawling one)

This is not the time to rub in. Still...
Samantha...I was with you all the while. I knew this was going to happen. I see Davy - Fed final at this point. Was saying all along and everyone around laughed their backs off.

Rafa:
-- Short return
-- Most return balls on service lines
-- higheset net clearance in top 10
-- stands the farthest back
-- doesn't have one stellar weapon but runs non stop

Bound to catch up. Bound to catch up. One guy who doesn't mind losing was going to take it up to him and that's what happened.

Rafa never had the answer for offense. Fed should learn a lesson or two or three this Swede.

Maybe Tsonga or Monfils will do it. Not that I'm a big fan of the fickle French crowd, but what a boost that would be for French tennis to have a French champion?

"By the way, Djokovic has just sent a gift basket to Soderling for taking the attention off his own loss."

Just what I was thinking, Sher.

Well, Muzzah looked good today after the shaky 3rd round.
So go Muzz, you can win this if you keep it up!

which tv channel in the US showed Nadal-Soderling live?

Wow.

I'm a huge Fed fan, but I'm gutted for Rafa. Did NOT want him to go out like this. :( :( :(

Big commiserations to Rafa fans.

Rafa should never have abandoned his sleeveless shirts. Especially not for that abomination of a pink frat boy polo.

I am so sorry Rafa fans. Even the greatest ones have their off days and are human.

as a Fed KAD, i must say this makes the rest of the French Open much more anxiety inducing. W/o Djokovic or Nadal and he STILL can't win the damn thing? That will gut me the rest of my life if he can't take advantage.

In light of all the reams of stories questioning Fed's dominance, greatness/GOAT status, the guy has made NINETEEN consecutive semifnals at Grand Slams. Djoko/Nadal crashing out of the FO should put into perspective just how phenomenal an all-timer Fed still is, "struggles" or no struggles.

and i still miss Justine.

Neither Rafa fans nor Fed fans win with today's equation.

PS--Rafa, though a loser on the scoreboard, remained sportsmanlike to the very end, checking the mark on Soderling's down-the-line backhand and calling the ball good. That counts for more than a slam title: maintaining virtue and integrity.

Tio Toni surely smiled when he saw that.

LMAO Sher! Nole who?

Another silver lining is that this diehard, ride-or-die Rafa fan can now sit back and let someone else deal with the pressure of being the favorite. Also, it'll be nice to be able to cheer for Hott Sauce and the Frenchies without worrying about if they're playing well enough to give Rafa trouble.

Now I just wonder how long it'll take for folks to start debating whether Rafa's loss will mean an asterisk for Fed's career, win or lose. :/

maybe roger should hire robin to be his coach.

Can Sharpie win the FO? It seems everything is out of order right now.

Andrew,
That is Ana Ivanovic not Victoria Azarenka in your opening

Respectfully to Roger KADS: Someone please beat Roger. SOMEONE PLEASE.

Rafa looked slow today, *faces reality. Definately not our usual Rafa. Sod played out of his mind, but Rafa's strokes had no power or penetration from the start.

greenhopper - no one showed it live in the US...NBC will have it taped at 3pm Twibe Time.

Bodo and Tignor I hope you didn't bet too much this year :-)

But i am sure your money it's not where your mouth is...

Thanks to Fed fans and FOOPs for the genuine commiserations. Rafa has an unexpected week off so I hope he takes a vacation and clears his head. I guess that is the silver lining in this...he gets some recovery time for Queens and Wimbly.

Gonna go outside and play. See you all later!

Boy o Boy. Condolences Rafa fans.

Now I see clamor from Rafa fans to get on the anyone but Fed wagon ASAP.

I'm speechless. Congrats to Sod fans, he played great.

I'm on the verge of tears.
Rafa, we still love you, you'll bounce back just fine.
*hugs to my fellow heartbroken Rafanatics*
now that the unthinkable has happened, I can say:
ROGER FOR RG 2009. Now that my guys's out, I really hope Fed does it. Allez. Now i'm off to drink myself into oblivion, I can't handle the shock and heartache

WOW! Nadal lost =(! Ugh this one of the saddest day of my life. I really thought that he could do it. I also thought that I can finally see Lakers and Nadal win together. Maybe it is true u can only get one wish not two. Looks like this is Roger to lose now. BUT it will be really ironic if Roger wins this one and Rafa wins US Open to complete their Career Grand Slam. But oh well I just hope Rafa overcome this loss and prepare for Wimbledon and his new goal the US Open. I do not want to see the Nadal after Wimbledon 2007 where he was mentally crushed =(.

Andrew,
Oops, sorry. Did not read the Robin Soderling part of the sentence.

I'm still in shock and am sitting on the couch thinking how the hail did Rafa get outplayed. Was the court faster than when he played Hewitt?

From one friggin shrieker to another. I do not want to watch Shrieky and Nails. Can I pls watch Verdasco and Kolya Fox.

My pj pants are the same colour as Sharpie's dress and c'mon Nails if I have to watch this match.

Sorry Rafa fans...

Its so uncharacteristic of Rafa...geez...why was Uncle Toni laughing at times thru the match?

"Tennis Channel officially sucks for not showing this match."

Why do people say this?

It's not like they had a say in the matter. Blame NBC and their "Same-day service in a nanosecond world" archaic policy about tape-delay coverage.

Let's face it - they know their ratings will be better for a 3 PM EDT/12 PM PDT show than an 8 AM EDT/5 AM PDT (or whatever the start time was). They don't give a toss that all of us can keep up with the score up-to-the-second via the 'Net.

Still, someone should introduce the head of NBC Sports to this Intarweb thing.

I am checking in from vacation and I saw this loss. Well- it had to come sometime but no offense to Soderling but I really wish the loss was against a player I am a big fan of and not a player who dislikes Rafa so much.

The thing that actually makes me saddest is reading that once again the French crowd is negative and apathetic towards Rafa and that they don't even really applaud him when he leaves. He has won the tournament four times in a row and they can't even be polite about it? I just don't understand the negativity. That actually makes me sadder than the loss- the fact that the crowd- even in a loss- refuses to be nice to him.

And then of course to read here the usual bashing that Rafa doesn't have any weapons but just "runs non stop." Nadal- perhaps the least respected number one in the men's game that I can remember. Silly me- I always thought that Rafa's forehand was good for one thing- but no...he doesn't do anything but run.

Reading about the crowd and the usual bashing is what made me cry finally.

:( :( :(

rafa will be back at wimbledon and win that

which tv channel in the US showed Nadal-Soderling live?
~~~~~
none, greenhopper. I think all of us in the U.S. were watching it via justintv and such.

My word, Hott Sauce has surprisingly ugly feet. Better to keep those puppies covered, love.

well... what can I say? as shocked as everyone else... trying to swallow this one... as a Nadal fan, this loss puts what Federer has done in a new perspective... is not easy to win almost everything, Nadal did it for ONE year since the beginning of the clay season last year til the end of this one... Federer did it for 3 years... guess what... all teh talk about Nadal being more than a simple human and the one that turns out to be supernatural is TMF... being Nadal who we know he is, he will come back stronger next year, but still... wow... now Ill just pull for Federer to be crowned as teh best of his generation and gaining a place with the bests of past generations. (Yep, unless they could get a chance to play each other in their best, its hard to determine who is teh GOAT, os Ill call them just best of each generation; Laver, Borg, Sampras, Federer & Co.)
Federer fans, you are awesome!!! Your empathy makes this moment easier to bear :)

'and i bet roger won't be able to capitalize on rafa losing.'

'maybe roger should hire robin to be his coach.'

Geez, Sally ... will you cut it the freak out, already?!?

This is supposed to be about comforting Rafa fans, not putting down Fed. CRIPES, you are relentless ... and annoying! Grow up!

Thanks, CL.

Roger should win this now.Somehow i think this might unsettle him, like someone said its now or never for him. He most probably wont get such a better chance.

Next year Rafa will probably bagel everyone...

Big,Big,Hugs to all Rafa Fans

I am still in shock no doubt like the rest of you

I am totally gutted and truly lost for any more words

I am still crying.

Anyway still proud of Rafa and what he has achieved

I am really done now.

Please Painful thruth, CDO and Samantha dont rub it in, I am crying so hard i cant take it, it's too much , Rafa can lose but not to a horrible excuse for a human like Soderling!!

Today Rafa had to play the French crowd as well as his opponent. why are you guys so mean !!

Can he come back from this? Please, someone tell me it's going to be OK.

Wow, I woke up just in time to watch Rafa lose, total sad face.
Rafa will bounce back, I think I'm more worried about Fed not winning now, if he doesn't take advantage of this, especially if he doesn't meet Murray in the final.

huang - spoken like a true me.

I don't think anyone should question Fed's credentials any more. And should he go on to win this thing (there is a lot of work yet to do, with no free passes), I don't want anyone putting any asterisk on the victory.

Masha starts with a break straight away...

Bye guys, im off to bury myself in work.

Goodluck to Roger, I really hope he gets this, this is faith opening up for him.

I know it's painful, as a rafa kad all this sucks...but come on. let's not disparage the Fedster. he didn't have anything to do with this loss.

*however someone might want to check under his pillow for a pin filled rafa doll with a pink shirt on*

j/k!

Just read the transcript from Elena D's interview and she really can see Rafa is playing too much. Wow!

Here's what makes me say aww about Elena:
Q. But you have always been one of the fittest players, physically‑wise, soyou think you have to work even more?

ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Just getting older, I guess.

Well this Rafa KAD is just numb, gutted, and just got the wind out of my sails (this after feeling so good about the Magic going to NBA finals)...

Anyway, we must accept with calm as Rafa will do, but probably not today. From what I could see on my crap feed (boos NBC) he just didn't move well and let Soderling dictate play. Sod has been playing well and I had a suspicion he would do so today, but still kept belief in Rafa.

Rafa will recover...btw it has nothing to do with Pink, sleeves, or anything else people.

ysterdy nole now rafa....anarchy everywhere.....cant we have a refresh button for this tournament????pls???

This is so sad - think I'll start wearing widow's weeds for a while. oh poor darling. This has ruined my tennis summer.

^^^^

Did want to say thanks to many for the commiserations.

It is tough and I was expecting him to lose sometime- it is just that once again- the crowd is so negative to him really gets to me. It makes my heart hurt.

The coverage for the weekend sucked big time...NBC would have higher ratings if they showed the match live..

Not many people are going to tune in to see the SOD win.

Nadal's press conference is at 1:00 EST.
Direct TV has two channels showing press conferences or check ESPN News channel.

rafa lost in the fourth round to a guy who no one though would beat him. Fed lost at wimby to Rafa in a match that is arguably the greatest we will see in a long time. On whom did the burden of the crown rest more heavily?

i am officially gutted. Oh well, I am rooting for Fed now or Tsongamania. This is Fed's best shot. My brother spent the last 30 minutes convincing me Rafa doesn't know who I am - like that will help.

How am I going to face the nadal hater at work?

Do Kolya and Nando know the results?

Kolya won the 1st set. I'd like to see Robin take on Kolya or the other way around.

No hard feelings against Robin but I'm a big fan of Kolya.

Heh, now for the first time in years I have no one to root for at RG. Strange feeling.
I'd love to see Fed win now. No, I'm actually convinced he's gonna do this this year. At least this is his biggest chance ever. And I don't think it's gonna be as bitter sweet as some may suggest.

Still sobbing. That Sod...

All I want now for Rafa is for him to be able to get home, be left alone by the press and get over this lost and then start to focus on Wimbledon. He didn’t play that good today and many days that would still be enough, but Söderling was on fire today so it wasn't to be. But boy does it hurt (not sure how much of RG I’ll be able to watch right now) so I can’t imagine how painful it most be for him. And to think he’ll have to answer press question as well.

Maybe rafa will feel a little less weight on his shoulders next spring.

This rafa fan sincerely hopes federer takes the title (no asterisks in my book)

Now, who should the other finalist be......DAVYDENKO, of course!! Would be nice to see this hard worker make it to a gs final......ptenisnet, are you with me on this?

Its a pity Rafa's not getting his career slam this year :(

The last hope for the Spanish men is Verdasco and Davydenko took it to him in the first set.

As far as the French crowds, they're often idiots. Largely a product of envy and constantly getting their arses handed to them by the Spanish on real military battlefields and the fields of sport.

One concern I have about Rafa involves his unconventional strokes and whether they will start breaking down at an early age like Seve Ballesteros' driving did at a fairly young age for a golfer.

Course golf isn't tennis and one or two mishits in a tennis match won't kill a player, whereas in a golf round they can be a disaster. Perhaps not a good analogy.

Any streams for Kolya-Nando?

"Rafa will recover...btw it has nothing to do with Pink, sleeves, or anything else people."
======================================================
word!

say no to the "blame the shirt" campaign.

Crashing to earth is hard. The ground is very very hard.

Vamos Nando, I guess.

Love Li Na's pink dress.

It's a shame that the American viewers can't watch the tennis LIVE. NBC is really treating you guys like kids.Even kids know about the internet live stream....lol

The problem (for Nadal, that is) is that now everyone knows how to beat him. He will go a long time without winning again. He will basically have to reinvent his game, not just one aspect. Expect him to be #3 (or even #4) by the end of the year. He may not be, but that is probably what will happen. Federer is back and no one knows how to beat Murray. I don't think Djokovic is entirely back though.

Still 6 slams isn't terrible for a career and he has won on 3 different surfaces. Maybe he can sneak out a US Open in a few years when Fed is gone and Murray and Novak get upset in an early round. But until then, expect him to drop.

I forgot about Del Potro (who also has Nadal's #). Rafa could be #5 at the end of the year.

Riot Nrrrd™
NBC gambled and will lose, everyone knows the scoreline, who will spend a nice sunday afternoon, watching a match that has already been played, especially with such a disappointing result

He will be fine - that Bill Macatee interview looks bittersweet now - when he says I will lose one day with that smile.

I am proud of him though - for calling the balls in - that is why he really rocks.

Commiseration to all Nadal fans!
You should look at this from the angle "you win some, you lose some".
His year may still be great. He won his first HC Slam after all

Still crying. Guess that's the thing about Rafa, he gets you: he's so damn loveable and endearing that you feel so much more gutted --like it's the end of the frickin world...It's because you're gutted for him, not gutted that you missed out on some reflected glory as a KAD.

I couldn't watch the match but from the descriptions of the crowd, feel so hurt for him: he's the four time defending champion and he was fighting with everything he had, and they couldn't bring themselves to cheer for him?? He lost and they couldn't bring themselves to cheer for him??? Their loss.

Aussiemarg, Rosangel, and all other Rafael fans,
I am very truly sorry for what happened on Chatrier today as I did not see the match at all. I was watching the Williams Sisters lose a tight 3 set match in doubles. Now, I will wait on NBC and Tennis Channel(FO Tonight) to see the highlights. I am still shocked as I type this.

Posted by yello fuzzy 05/31/2009 @ 12:21 PM

Riot Nrrrd™
NBC gambled and will lose, everyone knows the scoreline, who will spend a nice sunday afternoon, watching a match that has already been played, especially with such a disappointing result
==================
That's where you're wrong. The falling of the mighty always attracts viewing public.

they're showing the press conference? ugh. don't want to see sad, reflective, rafa.

Well if Federer will win this then Federer has to face Murray to it. I am not being mean BUT I rather have Federer have HARD oppenent in the finals than have a newcomer face him. It would not feel right even for Federer if beats somebody other than Nadal.

Nadal's press conference is at 1 PM EST. It should be carried on ESPN News Channel and the Direct TV press conference channels, check the mix channel.

elena's, he only needs the US Open for his career Slam, so I guess you meant the year GS.

Lol @ manuelsantanafan regarding the french fans.

the French Open feels so weird for me who started following tennis 3 years ago... to follow it without Nadal is sooo unFrench Open.

I would actually like Gonzo or Kolya to win. I don't think Roger will take too much consolation in Nadal losing as he prolly would of liked to play him in the final.

Samantha I find it very strang how you can support a player you don't like just because he is a fellow countryman. I don't like Hewitt and I don't support him just because he is Australian.

Carrie - Completely agree re: crowd. For me, that hurt just as much as losing to Baby Punter. And it doesn't help that the crowds have been continuing their weird hatey thing with Venus and Serena.

Another silver lining for the haters of the pink kit: Rafa, being the OCD, superstitious type, will probably never again wear pink. :)

Carrie, I didn't see the match, but what you said just broke my heart. No cheering for Rafa when he left the court?

Unfreakingbelievable!

Ndesque ... once you get past the 30 second CapitalOne commercial, this is a pretty solid, free stream - http://www.tennis-channel.tv/tennis/

OK folks.

Where does this rank in the collection of greatest men's upsets ever in the Open era?

A preliminary top 10, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

Krajicek over Sampras.

Chang over Lendl.

Doohan over Becker.

Ashe over Connors.

Soderling over Nadal.

Yzaga over Sampras (US Open, mid-90s somewhere)

Gomez over Agassi.

Bastl over Sampras.

Joachim Johansson over Andy Roddick, '04 US Open quarters.

Bill Scanlon's upset (I think over McEnroe; might be foggy)

----Upon reviewing that list, my god, Soderling over Nadal looks like a top-3 lock. Chang and Yzaga also in the top 3.

Probably Chang and Soderling when you get down to brass tacks.

yellow fuzzy
***NBC gambled and will lose, everyone knows the scoreline, who will spend a nice sunday afternoon, watching a match that has already been played, especially with such a disappointing result***

not me!
I think I hate NBC now as much as I hate the French crowd! :)

Come on Li Na!!!!!!!

thank heavens for the AO... cos without that this year woulda been a total %&^%$%* disaster!

*dabbing swollen eyes*

I'm just passing through, but I wanted to express my condolences to Rafa fans. This is a tough one to wrap the brain around...

The thing is - and I hope no one from either side of he Fed/Rafa divide jumps on me for this - but, what's wrong with being tired? Or more precisely, simply stating that someone might be tired and that might have affected the match outcome? I mean it doesn't strike me as either a moral failing or even a sign of poor fitness. Rafa has had an EXTREMELY successful 1st 6 months of 2009. He has played many matches. And though I have never been one of those who felt that Rafa's style of play was gonna do him in in some extraordinary way, there is NO doubt, that it features an amazing amount of running. Clearly that is going to take its toll. And despite his justly famous mental strength, there is a mental toll as well in all that playing and all that winning. And, anyway, as I and others have pointed out, this give Rafa more time to get ready for the grass court season.

Still can't get over the irony of it being Soderling to take Rafa down. The tennis gods have a VERY strange sense of humour.

The thing is too, whenever someone takes down a REALLY big fish. they almost always blow out in the next round. The physical and emotional toll on the WINNER can be huge. And Muzzah's game is a really bad match up for the BP....but then again I would have said that about Rafa's game as well.

And fellow Fed fans - I would say to us what I said to Rafa fans when BP was Rafa's next match - Be careful what you wish for. Pressure SQUARELY back on Fed now and he has dangerous players in his path.

The thing is at least as a Rafa fan we can chalk this up to a bad day, but as I said earlier, Rafa has been exposed and had he pulled this out Murray would've beat him (if not Verdasco) and Fed would've killed him. Kind of unfair to Federer. I am sure Roger would've loved to beat Rafa in the final. Now, some will try to put doubts on his win.

I think his team is really going to regret playing in Madrid not only for the physicial part, but most importantly for the mental tiredness. He just didn't seem to be completely there today. Even in the Hewitt game, there were times where he just lost concentration (Hewitt just wasn't good enough to capitilize on it)

Plus, he needs focus on other parts of his play. His first serve during the 3rd set 92% while Soderling's was 48% and he still lost that set. He really really needs to start attacking second serves more.

Now looking at the bright side...

Well- I am a big fan of a number of other players left in the draw. If Elf makes it to the semis and then the finals I will be ecstatic. If he wins I will be giddy If Roger wins the title he will tie Pete and likely get the one slam he lacks. If Koyla wins the obscure will be obscure no more. If Nando wins someone who was deemed a headcase two years ago will show that he is for real. If Haas wins a player in his twilight will be a great story with a win. If Murray wish GB will have its first male grand slam champion since before WWII> If Zonger or Gael wins- an engaging player will win in their home county.

Oh darn...doesn't work- I still feel like crap. :(

uhm - we're in the 4th round. its a wee bit early to talk about asterisks. or even finalists. there's a hail of a lot of tennis to be played.

and speaking of that - kolya is looking good!

Fanola, 12:10

"doesn't have one stellar weapon but runs non stop."

That assertion wins the award for the idiot statement of the year.

Congrats

Commiseration to all Nadal fans!
You should look at this from the angle "you win some, you lose some".
His year may still be great. He won his first HC Slam after all
========================================================

that's how i see it. i'm proud of him either way. not only is he a great champion but he's a gracious loser as well.

i believe that winning the U.S. Open will become a major goal this year.

lots of pressure on Roger now to take it all...
his preparation in recent weeks was all about how to combat Rafas clay court guile, now there are no players left that play anything like Rafa . he may have winning records against most of them, but all of them have tools to make it hard for Roger to waltz right in and take the title.

lol sbliliy - I hope to never see that kit again - that is why it was aSwede - it is all about that stupid hex. I want to know what deal Borg has with the tennis Gods. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

Stat flash:

Breakpoints won
Davydenko 2/6
Verdasco 0/0

how come whenever Rafa or Fed lose it brings out opposite lurking fans who want to bring the other down??...i mean for two of the most humble players on tour....they hav some really mean fans.......this is no way an indicator that Rafa-era is dead...just as Fed losing at wimbly and the AO didnt suggest he was finished

and can we just give Sods some credit???...the guy has just won a historic match..and the match of his life......where he outplayed his opponent....and people are saying that its because Rafa wore pink??? (a little homophobic, no??)........i mean....i dont know how u can attribute it to that...unless Soderling as a condition where seeing pink makes him play better.....or Rafa in pink negates his topspin.....the guy had a loss....and Sod outplayed him....i mean....he was going to lose in RG sumtime....and even if u dont like who he lost to.....u gotta give the guy credit and accept that he was the better player on the day....

Li broke back btw...and we are no on serve 2 all....

I will agree with Noy.

Obviously, should Fed go on to get the win, it wouldn't truly matter if he were playing against my Grandma, but still it would be nice for him to beat a Murray, who nobody seems to think Fed can beat ever again. It wouldn't make the champagne any bubblier, but it would help asuage some of the debate that is sure to come about Fed winning, but not having to face Nadal.

This crying Rafa fan is delurking. Go go Roger wins French Open 09 to get your career slam!!

surinamer - really nice post -thanks.

Carrie,

The french crowd gave Rafa a HUGE cheer when he was leaving.

They were cheering Soderling on all match, that's true. But that's an underdog thing, I think, with the french> They did cheer a lot for Rafa as he was leaving.

Veruca salt,

I am all for "blame the sleeves" campaign! He won EVERY time he wore sleeveless!
I also blame Tiriac for that stupid Madrid tournament!
who else to blame?
Also the unappreciative French crowd!

And maybe someone knocked the bottles.

I think I can also blame Tim, but I have no evidence of his involvement yet!

Vamos Rafa!
Have a good rest!
we love you. win or lose!

Matt Z, Roddick losing to Muller 1R was a bigger upset.

This is absolutely stunning.

OK Folks, let's cut a deal. Roger gets the French, Rafa gets this year's US Open, and they can fight over Wimbledon.

Very well said Jacko.

Rafa has always stayed nice and humbe, knowing he could lose - he NEVER makes any excuses for his losses. That's one great human being and true athlete.
Robin Soderling has a great backhand - and Rafa could not go there and also struggled with RS's forehand and his own UE today - just not his day - a sad day indeed.
But I agree that the French crowd are totally classless to loudly support the beating of a 4time champion. Rafa deserves more respect that that!

As a Rafa KAD, I'm not in a good way right now. Anyone else wondering if tweaking his game for hard courts may have messed up his clay court invincibility? Although he was winning a lot, he looked off the entire clay court season.