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Saturday June 6, 2009

Swede to face world number two Federer in finale showdown

ROBIN Soderling kept his wits about him in a heated 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 win over Fernando Gonzalez to reach the French Open final yesterday.

Waiting in the final will be Switzerland’s world number two Roger Federer, who came from behind to beat Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the other semi-final.

Sweden’s Soderling, the conqueror of champion Rafael Nadal, withstood a fierce fightback from the Chilean 12th seed to march into his first Grand Slam final.

As the cheering crowd, including six-time champion Bjorn Borg, rose to their feet, Soderling sunk to his knees and covered his face when he realised he had set up a final date with either world number two Roger Federer or Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro tomorrow.

Another one bites the dust: Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez takes a tumble during his semi-final loss to Sweden’s Robin Soderling yesterday. — AP

“It’s a great feeling (being in the) final of a Grand Slam. The biggest tournament in the world, and on clay. If you’d asked me a couple years ago which Grand Slam I’d play a final in 2009, I wouldn’t have said Roland Garros,” the 23rd seed Soderling said.

“I always knew before that when I play well, when I play my best tennis, I can beat anybody. I feel like I’ve played very, good tennis for many, many matches in a row, which is great.”

The match had been built up as the battle of the big forehands but the Chilean was left a breathless wreck during the first two sets as time and again he had to chase Soderling’s rasping winners.

Gonzalez, however, was unlucky during the last two sets of a nail-biting contest lasting almost 3½ hours, with many close calls going against him.

At 4-4, 15-15 in the fourth set, French umpire Emmanuel Joseph climbed off his chair but was unsure about where he should be looking when he approached the far side of the court.

He summoned the linesman to confirm where Soderling’s shot had landed and to Gonzalez’s annoyance, they appeared to examine the wrong place and the point was awarded to the Swede.

Convinced the two officials were wrong, the incensed Chilean sat down on the offending mark on the clay to wipe it away with the seat of his pants. Television replays showed Gonzalez had been right – the ball had been wide.

“I was really pissed off,” said Gonzalez, who had been bidding to become the first Chilean to reach the Paris final since Luis Ayala in 1960.

“I saw the ball out. I showed it. The line judge comes. He shows nothing. That drove me crazy. I said ‘Show me the mark’ and the umpire showed me nothing.

“The ball was out but I can’t complain about one point when there were more than 200 in the match. That wouldn’t be very fair play for me to complain, but it was hard,” added Gonzalez.

Despite the setback, a fired up Gonzalez looked to have one foot in the final when he captured the fourth set and led 4-1 in the decider but Soderling hung on to level for 4-4.

At deuce on the next Gonzalez service game, umpire Joseph, in consultation with the linesman, again appeared to award Soderling the point incorrectly.

Although Gonzalez saved that break point, he was clearly rattled and surrendered his serve two points later.

A pumped up Soderling made the most of his opponent’s misfortune and ripped a forehand winner to become the first Swede to reach the Roland Garros final since his coach Magnus Norman in 2000.

Gonzalez said: “I’m a bit bitter about the way things turned out. I really thought I was going to win... at 4-4, it was too big and I was really exhausted, physically and mentally.” — Reuters


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