The King of Clay Stumbles

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Rafael Nadal's shock 4th-round exit leaves the men's tournament at Roland Garros wide open.

If yesterday's loss of Ozeki (=Champion) Novak Djokovic to M11W Philipp Kohlschreiber was a surprise, today's defeat of Yokozuna (=Great Champion) Rafael Nadal to M8W Robin Soderling was a shocker. In contrast to the brilliant but inconsistent Serb, Nadal is not known for sudden lapses in performance -- he always seems to find a way to fight himself into a match, at least when he is healthy. But today Nadal failed to find a receipt against the unassuming Swede's powerful and agressive game.

Nadal's quest to become the first player to win Roland Garros five times in a row is therefore over. As much as this commentator has taken a liking to the humble and charismatic Majorcin, this result is good for tennis. The men's game had gotten at risk of becoming too predictable and uncompetitive, especially on clay.

The loss changes nothing a bout Nadal's lifetime Yokozuna status, of course, but his and Djokovic's early exits throw the men's tournament wide open. Favorite to win is now arguably Nadal's fellow Yokozuna Roger Federer, who lost the past three French Open finals to Nadal. If he nails this one, he would become only the third player of the open era to win all four slams.

But this is not all. All of a sudden it seems quite possible that this tournament could create a new male Ozeki. Andy Murray, who has already regained his Sekiwake (=Junior Champion I) spot by making surprisingly quick work of the young Croat M3W Marin Cilic, has now a fairly decent chance to make the final, with Nadal removed as a likely semifinal opponent. And in the other half of the draw, it seems not unthinkable any more that Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) Juan Martin del Potro or ex-Sekiwake M1W Jo-Wilfried Tsonga -- who will face off tomorrow -- would win the tournament. As both reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, a tournament win in Paris would propel them to Ozeki.

A Komusubi promotion is guaranteed to come out of the quarterfinal between Soderling and ex-Sekiwake M2E Nikolay Davydenko, who ended in straight sets Fernando Verdasco's spell at Komusubi.

In the ladies' tournament, Dinara Safina confirmed her newly gained Ozeki rank by blasting past French lady Aravane Rezai. Safina has looked flawless so far, but in the quarterfinals, Belarussian M1W Victoria Azarenka may present a stiffer challenge than Safina's previous opponents. Azarenka beat ex-Ozeki Ana Ivanovic in straight sets in round 4. Ivanovic has now failed to reach the quarterfinals in all grand slam tournaments since she won least year's French Open, and therefore drops out of the Sanyaku (=Championship) ranks altogether.

A Komusubi promotion will result from the quarterfinal between rising star M7W Dominika Cibulkova from Slovakia and former Ozeki Maria Sharapova, who is coming back from injury. Sharapova has made prevailing in gruelling three-setters her specialty at this tournament, this time edging past Na Li from China. It's good to have her back -- together with her compatriot Safina, the combatative and charismatic Sharapova has arguably the best shot at establishing a persistent challenge to the Yokozuna Venus and Serena Williams.