Rafael Nadal: It's not a tragedy

Many Rafael Nadal fans watched in horror as their tennis star defeated by Robin Soderling in the fourth round today.

Nadal’s unbeaten run at the French Open is finally over.

The four-time defending champion lost to Soderling 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2), ending his record 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros.

In the post-match press conference, Nadal said, "He didn't surprise me, because I know how he play, how dangerous he can be."

"I didn't play my best tennis. I didn't attack in not one moment. I play very short, and I make him very easy to play at this level."

"So when one player [is] bad, must lose. That's what happened today. I have to accept with the same calm when I win than when I lose."

"This is not a tragedy, losing here in Paris. It had to happen one day, and this is an excellent season for me."

On the crowd rooting for Soderling: "It's a shame. I mean, this tournament is so important, such a beautiful tournament for me. Well, that's the way it is. Maybe at one stage they supported Soderling more than me, and that was a bit sad."

"But I wish when I'm back they can support me a bit more in key moments."

On who might win the tournament now: "I don't know. Davydenko or Verdasco is there. Del Potro I think is there. We will see. Federer is the favorite, in my opinion."

Here's the video of Nadal at the press conference. For the complete transcript, read it here.

As for Soderling, I'm not going to comment about his devilish crap here in my blog. And for god sake, I've removed his picture.

(Via tennis.com; Images by Reuters, Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images)

2009 French Open Week 1: It's Black Sunday!

It was a Black Sunday at Roland Garros!

First, defending women's champion Ana Ivanovic went down 6-2, 6-3 to Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round.

Not long after that, it was four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal turn, who was stunned 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2) by Robin Soderling.

Labelled as one of the major upsets in French Open history, this is Nadal's first loss ever at the French Open, and his first ever loss in a best-of-five match on clay.

I guess the only person who saw this coming is Elena Dementieva, who predicted the loss earlier.

Now the French Open will have a new men's champion this year.

The pressure is on Roger Federer... or perhaps he should breathe sigh of relief now that his two main competitors on this surface are gone.

Yesterday, Novak Djokovic, a semifinalist in the last two years, bowed out in the third round after losing to no. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Now I need to root for someone in order to keep my interest in this year's Grand Slam.

I hope Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will win.

At least Federer will get his 14th Grand Slam or Tsonga will be the first Frenchman to win at Roland Garros since Yannick Noah since 1983.

For the women's singles, I think Dinara Safina has shown enough so far that she dominates the other ladies.

Unless Maria Sharapova managed to pull off miraculous wins to the final, I'm not so keen on the women's tennis as much as I like men's tennis.

Now I need to take some time off to mourn Nadal's defeat. See you guys tomorrow.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Rafael Nadal believes Richard Gasquet is innocent

Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet in an exhibition match in Malaysia back in 2007

Rafael Nadal expresses support for Richard Gasquet, who is facing a possible two-year ban after testing positive for cocaine.

"He's not taking cocaine. I know him. He's a good friend of mine, and I discussed this with him last week," Nadal said.

"You know what the world is like today. When you go to a party, anything can happen these days."

" If you kiss a girl who's taken cocaine, anything can happen, and that's the truth."

"That's reality, and this can destroy your career, and this is most unfair."

Wedding bells for Sania Mirza

Ahh... finally I'm back after missing from the blogosphere for a few days.

There are lots of tennis news which I need to update.

So let's get started with Sania Mirza's engagement news.

The tennis star is now engaged to Sohrab Mirza, a Hyderabad-based businessman!

Sania's family has yet to confirmed an immediate wedding date.

The two love birds, although having the same surname, are not related but have known each other for several years.

The 23-year-old Sohrab is the son of Adil Mirza and Noora Begum, the owners of Universal Bakers chain in the city of Hyderabad.

The chain has been a popular fast-food site in the city for several years now. It offers mainly pizzas, burgers and black forest cakes.

The 22-year-old Sania became the first Indian woman to win a WTA tour title and break into the World’s top 50 in 2005.

But thereafter, she has been plagued by injuries and fluctuating form.

However, she fought her way back and was able to win the Australian Open mixed doubles title along with Mahesh Bhupathi earlier this year.

She's currently back in the top 100, now ranked at no.95.

Sania's family confirmed that the marriage plans will not affect Sania’s tennis career and that she will continue to play in all major tournaments even after marriage.

(Via nhatky.in)