Take a bow, Mr. Soderling!

He came. He saw. He DID conquer. A storm had just hit France. It did the unimaginable. It, or better “He”, beat the king of clay himself! The storm was named “Robin Soderling”! His preys included the great, seemingly invincible Rafael Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko (who i feel looks like a “gora jaadu”) and David Ferrer en route the final.


Eventually, he was beaten by Federer but the main highlight of his dream run was the speech given by him after his defeat at the hands of the great Federer. Sportsmanship at it's best. That speech, according to me was the perfect speech anyone could give after losing a final to arguably the finest player in the history of Tennis. Some of the excerpts were..


“...Yesterday, my coach and I sat down and analised.. I wont lose to a person 10 times in a row.. After today, I promise that i won't lost to a person 11 times in a row..”


Addressing Federer at the presentation ceremony, Soderling added: "You really gave me a lesson on how to play tennis today.


"For me you're the greatest player in history so you really deserved to win this title."

“I had the two best weeks of my career. Roger is a really worthy winner."




To me, Soderling is a winner. He always will be. Maybe, I will always associate his name with the French Open. Underdog, fluke, party-pooper. The words you will associate him with. Sportsmanship, the one word with which i associate Soderling. The only word. Take a bow, Mr. Soderling!