In the end, Leander Paes of India and Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic rallied and came out victorious with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over South Africa’s Wesley Moodie and Belgium’s Dick Norman for the men’s doubles title at the 2009 French Open.  This is their first Grand Slam title together.

image: TSN

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Paes and Dlouhy Win French Open Doubles

image: Zuma Press

Getting a French Open title was not an easy task for Federer who has been the runner-up three times before.  The Swiss tennis star seemed to take his victory in stride (even though he clearly feels he deserves some bragging rights).  After the win, Federer said “now the question is: Am I the greatest of all time?  We don’t know, but I definitely have many things going for me because I’ve finally won all four Grand Slams, and I’m particularly happy reaching Pete’s 14.”

He went on to say: “It’s maybe my greatest victory, or certainly the one that removes the most pressure off my shoulders. I think that now and until the end of my career, I can really play with my mind at peace and no longer hear that I’ve never won Roland Garros.”

The winning moment was awesome (unless, of course, you’re Robin Soderling) as Federer fell to the clay and screamed before burying his hands in his face as the people in the crowd rose to their feet.  He let the tears run free as he stood there listening to the Swiss national anthem.  Tennis great, Andre Agassi, presented him with the trophy!!!  It must have been an incredible feeling.

To Soderling’s credit, he was a true gentleman and a class act.  After being defeated he said: “Roger, really, congrats to you.  You really gave me a lesson in how to play tennis today. And to me you’re the greatest player in history. So you really deserved to win this title.”

Sampras, himself, had to weigh in on the victory.  In a telephone interview he said: “I’m obviously happy for Roger.  Now that he has won in Paris, I think it just more solidifies his place in history as the greatest player that played the game, in my opinion.”

I think I’m going to have to agree.  Federer is carving a name for himself and has definitely solidified his position among the game’s best – if not THE best.

****UPDATE****

There was a scary moment, however, that slightly marred the big day.  Federer was attacked by a weird fan who managed to get onto the court in an attempt to put a red hat on the tennis star’s head.  After Federer pushed the man away from him, the guy danced in front of him waving a Barcelona soccer team flag.  How crazy!  Watch the video:

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Federer (Finally) Wins French Open

Instead, she beat a shaky-looking Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-2 Saturday and won the French Open.  You would have thought that Safina was the underdog by the way she played – she double-faulted seven times and seemed to struggle through the match.

While Safina faltered (and eventually slammed her racket down on the court), Kuznetsova soared and played a varied game and ultimately came out victorious. 

The French Open action continues tomorrow as Roger Federer and Robin Soderling face off in the Roland Garros final. 

image: TSN

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Kuznetsova Beats Safina, Wins French Open

Nadal will miss the tune-up at the Queen’s Club, which he won last year (followed by his first Wimbledon win).  He had the following to say about this turn of events:  "I am very disappointed to not be able to come this year to Queen’s [and] defend the title I won last year. To play in London has always been special for me, to play at the Queen’s Club is an honor and the fans in the UK are among the best I have ever seen, always supporting me since the first time I played there. 

I have been having some problems in the past months with my knees, that’s no secret, that did not allow me to compete always at 100 percent. I need to work with my team to recover well, work on my physical condition to be at my top form and get ready for the grass to play at Wimbledon. I hope I can be ready to compete by then. I am really sorry and I hope that the people at the tournament will still want me to come next year."

I’m sure he won’t lose his invitation to next year’s even due to his withdrawal – he’s one of the hottest names out on the court right now.  The highly regarded tennis player has won five titles this year and I’m sure after a brief rest, he will be back to his normal self.

image: TSN

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Nadal Withdraws From Pre-Wimbledon Event

image: TSN

While many might have guessed that the Swiss tennis star would advance to the next round (he has been a runner-up at this even three times) his opponent, 23rd-seeded, Robin Soderling (Sweden), was a bit of a surprise.  In what some are calling his “Cinderella run,” he upset 12th-seeded Chilean, Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4.  This is Soderling’s first-ever major semi.

I honestly don’t know who I’d like to see win since, in both situations, we’ve got a pretty great story.  Soderling is the ultimate underdog and who doesn’t like to see someone rise up from obscurity and beat all of the big names?  At the same time, if Federer wins, he will “become the sixth man in history to win all four Grand Slam events, tying Pete Sampras for the all-time men’s record in Grand Slam titles” (14).

The finals take place on Sunday.  If history repeats itself, Federer will take the title since he has beat Soderling in all nine of the times they’ve battled but Soderling is having an unusually charmed tournament so it is really anyone’s game.  The winner gets to take home $1.485 million and become a first-time French Open champ.

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Federer Wins Semi, Facing Soderling in Finals

image: Zuma Press

Safina defeated 20th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova yesterday 6-3, 6-3.  This is the second consecutive time that she has made it to the French Open final but, if she is victorious on Saturday, it would be her first Grand Slam title since she lost last year to Ana Ivanovic in last year’s tournament.

Meanwhile, Kuznetsova had to really fight for her win, beating 30th-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 .  This is also her second French Open title match (she was the runner-up in 2006).  Last year, Kuznetsova faced Safina in the semifinals and lost in straight sets.

It is interesting to note that Safina has a 20-1 record on the clay this year but her lone loss came at the hands of her fellow Russian, Kuznetsova, against who she has played 13 times in their careers.

I think Saturday’s match up could be extremely intense if both women are on their games.  It will be exciting to see who wins it!

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Safina vs. Kuznetsova at 2009 French Open

On Friday, second-seeded Federer will compete against fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.  The pair have a history that tips the scales in Federer’s favor – he beat del Potro at this year’s Australian Open quarters and in the second round at Wimbledon two years ago.

The other men’s semifinal match will feature a showdown between 12th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez and 23rd-seeded Robin Soderling (who eliminated four-time reigning French Open champion, Rafael Nadal, in a huge shocker earlier this week).

Meanwhile, things took another surprising turn on the women’s court.  Second-seeded Serena Williams was beat by the seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 7-5 on Court Lenglen.

It was an exciting back and forth match between the women and, for a little while, it looked like Williams was going to take it.  “In the third set I had an opportunity and I got really tight, and I pretty much gave it to her,” Williams said. “It was like, ‘Here, do you want to go to the semis? Because I don’t.’ She was like, ‘OK.”‘

Was it nerves?  “I don’t know,” Williams said. “I haven’t gotten tight since 2007 in Australia. Maybe I put some expectations on myself that I didn’t put on myself initially.”

Kuznetsova’s has advanced to the semifinals where she will face 30th-seeded Samantha Stosur, who will be competing in the Grand Slam semis for the first time.

In the other women’s semifinal, Dinara Safina will square off against Dominika Cibulkova.

images: TSN

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Federer Reaches Semifinals, Williams Out

Roddick lost his match 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 on Court Lenglen to the local favorite, Gael Monfils (11th-seeded).  Meanwhile, Federer dropped those first two sets to Tommy Haas but then fought hard to win 6-7 (4-7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in three hours and seven minutes.

image: TSN

When asked about the early elimination of Raphael Nadal, Federer didn’t even try to hide his feelings: “It caused a bit of a shock in the locker room.  All the players are a bit relieved. Everybody suddenly sees that things are much more open.”

At 27 years old, Federer needs just one more Grand Slam title to match the record set by Pete Sampras and I’m feeling confident that he can do it.

I have to say that I find it pretty cool that this year’s men’s French Open champion will be a first time winner.  That always makes it a little more exciting!

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Federer Rallies, Roddick’s Run Ends at French Open

image: Zuma Press

“You really want to win badly and there’s so many things going on,” said Wozniak. “It was my first time on Philippe Chatrier court. Emotions get involved and you just get tight and you can’t play really your game, so it’s tough.”

I can imagine that the 21-year-old’s nerves got the best of her but I hope she goes home to Blainville, Ontario with a deep sense of pride for what she accomplished personally and for her country.

Williams, on the other hand, has extended her Grand Slam winning streak to 18 matches and referred to the win as her “most focused match so far.”  In the pursuit of her 11th major title, Williams will next play seventh seeded Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won the 2004 U.S. Open.  “I feel like I have nothing to lose,” Williams said. “This is when everything counts, you know. I have to pick up my level and play again a really good, strong match, especially playing somebody like Svetlana who is a great clay-court player and who moves extremely well and doesn’t do anything bad.”

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Williams Eliminates Wozniak at French Open

image: Newscom

Like Dinara Safina (who won yesterday), Nadal was the top seed and world No. 1 but Soderling proved to be too much to handle as he won with a 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).  Even more shocking?  Soderling is seeded 23rd and, in 21 attempts, he’s never actually made it past the third round of a Grand Slam.  WOW!  Can you imagine how he feels right now?

Other winners from yesterday’s games included Andy Murray (Scotland), Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) and Nikolay Davydenko (Russia).  They, along with Soderling, will advance to the quarterfinals.

Tomorrow’s match-ups include:

• Andy Roddick (USA) vs. Gael Monfils (France)
• Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) vs. Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina)
• Tommy Robredo (Spain) vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany)

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Nadal Eliminated in French Open Shocker