Robin Soderling stuns Roger Federer at French Open

Roger Federer was pumping his fists after hitting winning volleys in the first set of his quarterfinal match against Robin Soderling Tuesday at the French Open. Federer was dancing on the tips of his toes, slip-sliding through the red clay so smoothly his socks weren’t even getting dirty.

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FOR THE RECORD:
French Open: In some editions of Wednesday’s Sports section, an article on Roger Federer’s loss at the French Open included a quote from him and said that he spoke by phone from Paris. Federer spoke to reporters after the match. —

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This Federer, who had a 12-0 career record against Soderling, won the first set without much sweat, and so it became even harder to imagine this:

After making 23 straight Grand Slam semifinals, Federer is out of a major tournament in the quarterfinals. His streak of excellence was ended by the fifth-seeded Soderling, who beat the top-seeded Federer, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

“People don’t understand what a big deal that is,” said U.S. Davis Cup captain and ESPN broadcaster Patrick McEnroe of Federer’s Slam semifinal streak.

Federer was able to joke about it afterward.

“It was a great run,” he said. “Now I’ve got the quarterfinal streak going, I guess.”

If the second-seeded Rafael Nadal goes on to win the tournament, the Spaniard will replace Federer as the No. 1-ranked player next week.

A year ago that seemed unlikely after Soderling had upset Nadal at the French Open. It was the first time Nadal had ever lost at Roland Garros, but it showed that Soderling had a high-powered game that could also be used effectively on the slow French red clay.

Tuesday’s match began to turn toward Soderling in the third set after the players had returned to court after a 75-minute rain delay. In the 10th game, on his serve, Federer showed some nerves. He double-faulted at deuce and the crowd gasped.

The double fault gave Soderling a break point and the Swede won the game on the next point. Soderling then served out the set, finishing it with a stylish ace, and Federer seemed frustrated. He threw up his palms. The gesture seemed to say, “Help!”

McEnroe said that Soderling, 25, was one of the few men with strength enough on his groundstrokes to “hit through” the murky conditions at Roland Garros, with the clay playing even slower because of rain.

“The balls got heavy but I’ve played good matches in these kinds of conditions,” Soderling said. “It suits my game.”

Still, the match started as if it would be a Federer runaway. Federer won 22 of his first 24 service points. But in the first game of the second set, after being up 30-0 on his serve, Federer’s focus seemed to desert him. He lost four straight points and got broken. Soderling held his own serve the rest of the set, and suddenly Federer had lost his first set of the tournament.

McEnroe said it was too early to suggest this might be a sign of a downward trend for Federer, who rebounded to win the Australian Open last January after he had been upset in the finals of the U.S. Open last fall by Juan Martin del Potro.

“Soderling played the match of his life,” McEnroe said. “I think he kind of made the decision to go for broke today, and any opportunity he had he took it.”

Federer seemed able to shrug off the loss and already start looking ahead to grass courts of Wimbledon, where he has won six of the last seven titles.

“You take the defeat as it is,” Federer said. “You don’t think of the consequences. I guess I’m most disappointed that I can’t defend my title here. I really felt like my tennis was good enough to come here and do it again, but that was not the case today.”

Federer’s loss wasn’t the only upset of the day.

Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone, seeded 17th, became the first Italian woman to make the semifinals at the French Open since 1954 when she upset third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-2, 6-3. She will play fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva in the semifinals. Dementieva beat fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 Tuesday. Petrova had upset second-seeded Venus Williams in the fourth round.

Pucin reported from Los Angeles.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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