"I'm not really bothered by it" - When Robin Soderling refused to accept illness & injury as reason for Rafael Nadal's French Open defeat at his hands
To say Rafael Nadal has dominated the French Open would be an understatement. He has won a record 14 titles at the Major, with his first victory coming way back in 2005 and the latest last year.
Nadal has an astonishing 112 wins from 115 matches on the hallowed red dirt in Paris. His three defeats at Roland Garros have come at the hands of two players, Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic.
Soderling was the first player to defeat the Spaniard at the claycourt Grand Slam, when he registered a 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2) win in the Round of 16 in 2009. It remains one of the biggest upsets in tennis history, as the Swede managed to hand the-then World No. 1 his first loss in his 'backyard.'
In his autobiography, Nadal later disclosed that he was battling knee issues during the 2009 French Open, which even led to him withdrawing from the Wimbledon Championships that year.
Interestingly, French player Jo-Wilfred Tsonga gave more information on the 22-time Major winner's physical fitness at the time, saying that the Mallorcan was suffering from a bad throat during his defeat to Soderling.
Soderling, however, remained unmoved by any of that and stated that when a player loses a match, there are always "explanations" for the defeat.
"I think, losing a match, there's always explanations. Since it's such a big match, or it was such a big shock that Rafa lost, there's always going to be people speaking about it. I don't know why Tsonga said it, I have no idea," he said, in an interview with Times of India.
"For sure, during my career, I gave up a couple of times during matches, but I always felt, that if I step on court, I was there to win the match. So I'm not really bothered by it," he added.
"This is not a tragedy" - What Rafael Nadal said following maiden French Open defeat
Since making his French Open debut in 2005, Rafael Nadal had lost just seven sets en route to winning four successive titles. And in 2009, he was bidding to win an unprecedented fifth straight title in Paris.
However, Robin Soderling handed Nadal his maiden defeat at Roland Garros and ended his dreams of a claiming fifth Coupe des Mousquetaires.
In a press conference after the match, the Spaniard said that while he was disappointed with the result, he did not see it as a 'tragedy.'
"This is not a tragedy, losing here in Paris. It had to happen one day, and this is an excellent season for me. Of course it's a bit sad, but I have to overcome this as quickly as possible. Well, all of us athletes, we know that when we walk on the court we can either win or lose. I know it for a fact anything can happen, and I have to accept them both in the same way," he said.
Nadal also stated that he didn't put in his best performance against Soderling and admitted to making things easy for the Swede with some of his on-court decisions.
"He didn't surprise me because I know how he plays, how dangerous he can be. I didn't play my best tennis. No, I didn't attack in no one moment. I played very short, and I made it very easy for him to play at this level. I never was calm; that's the truth. The match started off very badly for me. Sometimes it's not enough fighting. You have to play a good level of tennis," he explained.
"Sometimes people think I win because I'm physically fit, but, no," he added. "When I win, it's because I play well, and that wasn't the case today. I must say that at key moments I couldn't take the opportunity because I was losing my calm, and I didn't play well."