Soderling to Final

Soderling advances to the finals at Roland Garros, but it took an emotional and controversial match. The underdog story continues. In his article in The New York Times, Christopher Clarey does a nice job of summing up the highlights of this match between Gonzalez and Soderling.

Soderling went out "swinging" and jumped quickly to a two-set lead. But Gonzalez would pull himself together and win the next two sets--not without controversy, though, at 4-4 in the second set. Clarey commented,

"Soderling hit a backhand down the line that looked like a winner and was called good. González disagreed and asked the chair umpire Emmanuel Joseph to descend from his chair and take a closer look. Joseph did so and then asked for the linesman who had made the call to confirm which mark on the clay was the proper one.

With González growing agitated, Joseph confirmed that the call had been correct, but González was convinced they were using the wrong ball mark. He argued more and then returned to the spot in question, sat down on the clay and used his bottom to wipe out both marks."

Here is a YouTube video that shows the action. Sorry it's in French, but you'll get the idea.



All tied with two sets each, Gonzalez gained a quick lead at 4-2 up 15-30 in the 5th set. But Soderling determined to not be sent home, and he put together two great returns, making the score 4-3. Soderling would use the energy he gained from those two returns to propel himself to a semi-final victory (6-4 5th set).

Soderling has to be intimidated by Federer. But Clarey quoted Soderling as saying, “Roger, he’s going to be the favorite by far, but I think Nadal was favored against me, too.” Soderling, we all wish you good luck; it's David vs. Goliath.