Paris: Defending champion Roger Federer suffered a stunning quarter-final exit at the French Open yesterday when he lost 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 to Sweden’s Robin Soderling in a rain-interrupted match on Chatrier court.
The world number one crumbled in the face of a ferocious onslaught as Soderling, beaten by Federer in last year’s final, claimed a first career win against the 16-times grand slam champion at the 13th attempt.
Federer looked comfortable when he won the first set but the match then began to slip away from him. Returning from a rain delay at 5-5 in the third set, the Swiss immediately lost his serve and Soderling moved into a two sets to one lead.
The Swede broke serve twice in the decider and never faltered as he clinched victory on his first match point when Federer hit a forehand long.
Meanwhile, Czech Tomas Berdych bulldozed his way past Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-1 6-2 to reach his first grand slam semi-final.
The 24-year-old, seeded 15th, fired down 36 winners as he romped past the 11th seed to set up a clash with Soderling.
Berdych picked up where he had left off against fourth seed Andy Murray in the previous round, hammering a series of thumping groundstrokes that were too much for Youzhny. Two breaks of serve gave him the first set and he cruised through the second and third to clinch victory after just one hour, 54 minutes.
Meanwhile in the women’s tournament, Elena Dementieva recovered from a sticky start to beat fellow Russian Nadia Petrova and reach the semi-finals.
The two baseliners renewed a professional rivalry dating back to 1997 on a rainy Court Suzanne Lenglen and it was fifth seed Dementieva who played the sharper tennis after losing the opening three games to record a 2-6 6-2 6-0 victory.
Both players received treatment for thigh injuries midway through the opening set and Petrova, who knocked out Venus Williams in the previous round, needed more attention after Dementieva levelled the match.
A confident Dementieva cruised through the deciding set as Petrova struggled to move properly, wrapping up victory with a forehand down the line after two hours and five minutes.
The 28-year-old Dementieva has now reached nine semi-finals, but is yet to win one of the four grand slams. She faces Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in the last four.
Schiavone had earlier achieved a landmark victory for Italy when she upset third seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.
The 29-year-old used her claycourt experience to perfect effect to secure victory in 80 minutes and become the first Italian woman in the Open era to reach the last four of a grand slam event.
