The King of Clay was expected to win his fifth straight Roland Garros title until the unimaginable happened. He lost.
    Robin Soderling beat Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6. In search of an explanation for the profound upset, Nadal was drilled: “Was it the wind? Are you sick? Did you adequately prepare?”
    An agitated Nadal replied: “Stop it. Stop it. Had I played my best level against Soderling, maybe the results would have been different. But he played a very good level of tennis and I didn't play well, so the results are what they are.”
   Meanwhile, Soderling of Sweden, celebrated the biggest moment of his career. “I didn't want him to make me run. I tried to be the one to make him run.”
    As it turned out, forcing Nadal to scamper may have been Soderling's smartest scheme. After the tournament, Nadal announced that he had been diagnosed with tendonitis of the knees. The painful and debilitating condition played a role in his French Open defeat, and then forced the Spaniard to cancel Wimbledon.
   Due to circumstances arguably out of his control, Rafa makes the Short Falls list.