Major French Open Upsets
No Grand Slam event is ever complete without its shares of upsets; the bigger the upset, the better the results. The French Open this year also was full of upsets; some big and some small, but whatever the size, they saw seeded players bow out of the Grand Slam without threatening the emergence of eventual winners Rafael Nadal of Spain and Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
The biggest upset of the event was the loss of defending champion Roger Federer to Swede Robin Soderling. In a replay of last year’s final, all but Soderling expected Federer to win and earn a place in the semi final, something that had become a familiar sight among tennis fans. Yet Soderling had other ideas. He lost the first set to the top seed 3-6 but came back strongly 6-3, 7-5, and 6-4 to avenge last year’s defeat in the grand finale and secure a berth in the semis.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic lost a five-set thriller of a quarter final to Austrian veteran Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 6-7(3), and 4-6. The match lasted over four hours and gave an unlikely Melzer a chance to reach the last four, where Nadal put an end to his dream run.
The British Number 1 Andy Murray who is always a threat on clay, lost the battle in the fourth round to Tomas Berdych in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, and 6-3. He was preceded out of the event by America’s only real threat Andy Roddick who was knocked out in the third round by Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
In the women’s event, the top two seeds Serena Williams and sister Venus were knocked before they could reach the last four, making their loss to do so not only consecutive but also shocking. Eventual runners up Samantha Stosur of Australia downed Serena in the last 8 after a marathon match that saw her win the first set 6-2, lose the second 6-7 before finally winning the final set 8-6.
Similarly, sister Venus Williams who was seeded second for the event couldn’t weave her magic against Russian Nadia Petrova, going down in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in the third round.
The most shocking upset of the women’s circuit this year was the loss of 4 time winner Justine Henin who first overcame rain to defeat former Number 1 Maria Sharapova in round 3 but lost to Samantha Stosur in the 4th round. Henin didn’t go down easily either, she lost the first set 6-2 before using all her experience to steal the second one 1-6, before losing the final set to Stosur 4-6.
Defending Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova seemed off colour this year, but even she wouldn’t have expected to go out ahead of the quarter final, but that’s exactly what happened. Russia’s Maria Kirilenko dethroned her in the third round 6-3, 2-6 and 6-4.
Italy’s Francesca Schiavone who became the first Italian to win the title at Roland Garros also had her share in the upset scenario. She defeated number 3 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
But perhaps the most shocking upset for some was the first round exit of last year's finalist Dinara Safina to unseeded Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm. Date Krumm who at 39 was the oldest member of the single’s circuit came back strongly after going down 3-6 in the first set and taking the next two 6-4 and 7-5. Similarly, winner at Roland Garros in 2008, Ana Ivanovic lost in the second round to 28th-seeded Alisa Kleybanova. Her loss wasn’t unexpected considering her loss of form but it was the score line of the second set that disturbed many, including the losing Ivanovic. She lost the first set 6-3 while failed to win a game in the second one, going down 6-0.
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