Rafael Nadal's record of 12 French Opens will remain unbroken forever, feels Soderling

Rafael Nadal with the Roland Garros trophy

11 years ago to this day - on 31 May 2009 - Robin Soderling sent shock waves across the Roland Garros grounds. He did something that was deemed unimaginable until then - toppling Rafael Nadal on his favorite red dirt in Paris.

The Spaniard hadn't tasted defeat on his previous four visits to Paris, and had come to this fourth-round encounter riding on a 31-match winning streak at the French Open. Unstoppable and invincible in every respect, the King of Clay was looking to extend his reign for a fifth time.

But Soderling dashed those hopes with a performance that would go on to be etched in the history books.

A dejected Rafael Nadal during the 2009 French Open encounter with Robin Soderling

The Swede's forehand refused to stop firing on the day, as he crushed 63 winners past a hapless Nadal. The 6-2. 6(2)-7, 6-4, 7-6(2) win showed the world how relentless aggression can get the better of Nadal even on his favourite surface, and raised the hopes of the Spaniard's other challengers.

Soderling, who would go on to lose the final to Roger Federer, continued to be hailed for that massive victory for the rest of his career.

Rafael Nadal (left) and Robin Soderling after the match

The Swede, who was forced to hang up his racquet due to persistent mononucleosis, recently shared his experience of that unforgettable day on the website 'Behind the Racquet'. The ramifications of that landmark win were huge, and Soderling wrote about how his name will always be associated Rafael Nadal and Roland Garros.

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#LegendaryBTR- “I tried to make a comeback, from mono, three separate years, which all failed. This all grew on me and took a major toll on my mind. I accepted that maybe I could never come back. When I made the decision to finally stop it was hard but also a bit of a relief. I didn’t have to fight to come back and live in this uncertainty. After making the decision I could finally accept it and figure out how to live my life again. It was a weird feeling during my first six months after my career because I didn’t care about tennis, it was a nice break. I almost didn’t care if I were to come back. When you get really sick you start to realize your health is most important. It’s crazy because during my career tennis was the only thing I cared about. At this point I only cared about getting better, it was simple. After some time I was watching tennis on TV seeing players I was playing against. I was wishing to just be on the court again, competing. It was mentally tough. My first year out I didn’t do any physical activity because I didn’t want to aggravate anything. It has taken about five years for me to get back to a point where I could train however I wanted. At this time I felt like it has been too long a period for me to return to tennis. I didn’t have the energy to do so either. I don’t blame it specifically on anything I did. Being a top athlete in any sport is not easy. There are times where I blame myself. There were moments in my career where I wish I would have been able to take a step back or not take it as seriously. I was living in this bubble where everything was tennis. As the years went on, and as I became better, I took away more and more of the things I enjoyed to do. I thought this is what I needed to do to be the best I could be. It was all worth it if I won my matches and ranking improved, but if I didn’t it felt as if everything was f**ked. I see it now as just a sport. My biggest issue was not having that on and off switch. Tennis doesn’t make it easy to ‘turn it off’ and you have to find ways during the season to take care of yourself and just rest.” @rsoderling Go to behindtheracquet.com for extended stories, podcasts and merch.

A post shared by Behind The Racquet (@behindtheracquet) on Apr 5, 2020 at 9:36am PDT

Don't think anyone expected me to beat Rafael Nadal: Soderling

Soderling also talked about how it was difficult for him to focus on the rest of the tournament after pulling off the impossible. To his credit, the Swede did go on to win his next two matches, before falling short at the last hurdle.

"People always bring up when I beat Rafael Nadal at the 2009 French Open," Soderling wrote. "Of course it was a great feeling. I don’t think anyone in the world expected me to win that match.

"It was difficult because right after shaking hands I realized that it wasn’t the finals. I thought to myself, ‘Okay, don’t be too happy, don’t relax too much’. I didn’t want to be that guy to beat Rafa but then lose in the finals.

I just wanted to stay focused because if you relax even a little bit you lose a match, like a Grand Slam final, easily."

It took Soderling some time to fathom what he managed to achieve that day. But the rest of the world knew what it really meant; the Swede talked about how his phone was flooded with messages right after he converted match point.

"At the time I did not realize how big of an accomplishment it was. I remember getting back to the locker room and having about 350 texts messages. It kind of started to hit me that this was a big thing."

Appreciate the support but the bigger story is Rafael Nadal: Soderling

Rafael Nadal with the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy after winning the French Open for the 12th time

Despite having been one of just two men to have stopped the Spanish juggernaut on the terre battue of Roland Garros, the 35-year-old Soderling has tremendous respect for Nadal. He understands all the adulation surrounding that one big win, but feels that what the Spaniard has achieved is beyond anything that he himself has done.

Since that defeat Nadal has gone on to lift the trophy a staggering eight times, taking his total number of titles to an unprecedented 12 - the most that any player has ever won at a Major. And Soderling is very confident that that record will remain insurmountable till the end of time.

"I appreciate all the support I got that day and still get for winning that match but the bigger story is Nadal. We will never ever see someone winning 12 Roland Garros again,” Soderling said.