6 unlikely players who defeated Rafael Nadal at a Grand Slam

2. Robin Söderling

It was a match that splashed Robin Soderling’s name across the front page of every newspaper in the world

French Open 2009 Fourth Round - Robin Söderling def. Nadal 6-2, 6-7 (7-2), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)

This was the third Grand Slam match between the two, with Nadal having won on both the previous occasions. The Spaniard was gunning for his fifth French Open crown, and everything seemed in place for him.

Soderling, seeded 23rd, was the underdog on paper, but not in reality. Soderling primarily played from the baseline, relying on his forehand and approaching the net with caution. His potent groundstrokes propelled him to break Nadal’s serve twice and close the first set 6-2.

The second set saw Nadal get an early break in third game, and he served for the set at 5-4. But the Swede soon found himself at 30-40, with a chance to break Nadal’s serve back, and he did with a sublime backhand drop shot.

The set went to a tie-breaker in which Nadal took an unassailable lead of 6-0. He won it on his third set point after Soderling sent his forehand long.

It looked like the King of Clay was back on track to go on and win the match from there. But instead, it turned out to be a slug-fest for Nadal. Soderling broke his serve in the seventh game and held to love to take the fourth set 6-4.

Nadal was clearly peeved, but the prospect of a fifth set looked probable after he broke Soderling’s serve to lead 2-0 in the fourth set. However, Soderling broke back in the following game and took the set to a tie-breaker.

The Swede dominated Nadal in the breaker and raced to a 6-1 lead. At 6-2, the world witnessed the moment that sent a seismic tremor across the tennis fraternity. Nadal tried a drop shot on Soderling’s backhand return, only to see it sail wide.

The crowd erupted in unison to applaud the man who had just dethroned the King.