Friends or Foes? Nadal and Soderling Meet Again in the Quarter-Finals
The competition is on. Rafael Nadal made it through to the quarter-finals after defeating Paul-Henri Mathieu with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory. The Spaniard will soon be facing his rival Robin Soderling for a place in the semi-finals. Nadal, ranked world no. 2, is the favourite for this match.
Nadal and Soderling already know each other well and had quite a heated rivalry with the other during the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. The two players had spent several days playing a five set match against one another due to the delaying rainy weather. Nadal was ultimately the winner, but Soderling attracted attention by mocking his opponent on the court. Soderling walked off the court while Nadal was preparing his serve, protesting against the amount of time Nadal took between serves. When he walked back on the court, Nadal said “new balls,” holding up his serving ball. The Swede’s answer was to mimic Nadal’s habit of picking at his shorts before playing a point.
While the maturity was not at its highest level during this match, other instances of such controversy have occurred between the two. The duo met again at the Rome Masters in 2009, at which the two players had to face one another. During the match, Nadal placed a shot outside the baseline. This was called out by the linesman, and Soderling pointed to a mark on the court at the wrong location. The umpire went to point the right location on the court, but not at the right spot: the ball was ruled to be replayed. The Swede was raging as the Hawk-Eye replay made it obvious that the ball was out. He subsequently lost the match to Nadal 6–1, 6–0.
A month later, the pair met yet again during the 2009 French Open. Soderling won 6–2 6–7(2) 6–4 7–6(2) against the Spaniard, becoming the first player to defeat Nadal during the event. The Swede was again victorious over Nadal in 2009 at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. The two then confronted each other recently at the 2010 French Open in Paris where Nadal won 6–4, 6–2, 6–4. This match gave him his seventh Grand Slam, which he has in common with John McEnroe, John Newcombe and Mats Wilander.
In an interview, Nadal spoke about how he felt about Soderling: “I had a little bit of a problem [with Soderling] in this tournament a few years ago. After that I never had any problem with him.” However, a bit more of a rivalry could be discerned when he added, “I think he's playing with big confidence and a big serve. So he's playing great. It is going to be a very difficult match for me I think. But hopefully for him, too.”
The Spaniard had to withdraw from last year’s Wimbledon Championships after it was confirmed that he was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees. He was then the first champion not to defend his title since Goran Ivanišević in 2001. Roger Federer then won the crown, making Nadal his ultimate rival.
Nadal has struggled through pain since the beginning of this year’s Wimbledon as well, but he is determined to finish the tournament and repeat his glorious victory in 2008, when he won the crown: “I take anti-inflammatories and I did a lot of treatment with the physio and with the doctor.”
With those terrible injuries occurring at the worst possible moments for his career, the Spaniard could perhaps have more to lose than a place in the semi-finals during tomorrow’s match.
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