French Open: Roger Federer Falls in Quarterfinals to Robin Soderling

It would be an understatement to say that Roger Federer has owned Robin Soderling over their respective careers. Entering the French Open quarterfinal Federer was 12-0 against the Swede Soderling, and just last year easily had his way with him at last year's French Open title. Even more impressively Federer had been to 23 straight Major semifinals, the previous best streak was a lowly 10 straight major semifinals. Needless to say the odds were stacked against Soderling.

However, something curious happened at Rolland Garros as Soderling had his way with Federer, the World's number 1 player, in four sets. Sports Illustrated's SL Price writes "This was a different player than the one who had seemed, like so many others, almost honored to lose when Federer took the Roland Garros title with a straight-sets coronation a year ago.” Soderling is suddenly two wins away from a major championship, and a player that has already beaten Rafael Nadal, his likely opponent in the Finals.

Video highlights of the match can be viewed here