King Nadal's Paris crown finally slips

By Pritha Sarkar

PARIS (Reuters) - A seismic shock rippled through Roland Garros at 17.54 pm on Sunday when the unthinkable finally happened -- claycourt king Rafael Nadal's aura of invincibility was pierced, punctured and finally ripped apart.

Robin Soderling was barely known outside tennis circles but the disarming Swede played the match of his life to humble arguably the greatest ever claycourter 6-2 6-7 6-4 7-6 in the fourth round of the French Open after 3-1/2 hours of high drama.

Soderling left the world number one and a capacity crowd on Philippe Chatrier Court flabbergasted as he handed the Spaniard his first defeat at Roland Garros and left his dreams of a record fifth consecutive title in tatters.

A disbelieving crowd watched in fascination as the 22-year-old was finally brought to his knees when his attempt at an angled volley looped wide.

As Soderling sealed the champion's fate, the 23rd seed stretched his arms wide open to lap up the applause from the hollering fans before hurling his racket high into the stands.

On the other side of the net, a forlorn Nadal was left to digest his first defeat in 32 matches at the claycourt major.

"This is not a tragedy, losing here in Paris. It had to happen one day," said Nadal, who had not lost a set here since the 2007 final against Roger Federer.

"That's the end of the road, and I have to accept it. I have to accept my defeat as I accepted my victories: with calm."