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“I felt if I can win one set,” he said, “why not the second one, and then the third one?”
Soderling did come within two points of winning the second set, when he led 6-5 and Nadal was serving. Nadal held there, though, then ran away with the ensuing tiebreaker, helped by six unforced errors by Soderling.
That was certainly a moment when Soderling could have folded. Instead, he showed fortitude.
“It takes a serious mind to realize, that, ’Hey, listen, I just lost the second set 7-6 to Nadal, but I am so much better today, and I’ve just got to stay with him.’ And that’s, I think, what Robin exactly did,” Wilander said.
Nadal’s high-bouncing forehands didn’t bother Soderling. Soderling’s deep groundstrokes and booming serves — at up to 140 mph — troubled Nadal, who stood way behind the baseline. When Soderling served out the third set at love, Nadal had lost two sets in a single French Open match for the first time.
As the fourth-set tiebreaker began, spectators at Court Philippe Chatrier serenaded the underdog with choruses of “Roh-bean!” Others responded, “Ra-fa!” Later, Nadal termed the extra support for Soderling “sad.”
Soderling moved ahead 6-1, but Nadal’s forehand winner erased the first match point of his French Open career. On the second, Nadal’s volley landed wide, the final point of his lone loss at Roland Garros.
“We know that when we walk on the court, we can either win or lose,” Nadal said. “No one remembers defeats in the long run. People remember victories. So I have to move forward.”
He turns 23 on Wednesday, and noted he’s accustomed to celebrating his birthday at Roland Garros.
Not this year. About 75 minutes after the match ended, Nadal left the locker room with a couple of gym bags and a white plastic trash bag with other belongings.
He paused at the tournament’s player support desk for goodbye kisses, then walked past the transportation desk and said, “Ciao. Merci.” Nadal slid into a black sedan that whisked him through the complex’s green gate — departing one week earlier than he expected, one week earlier than every other year he’s been here.
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