2009

Highlights of the tournament

Sunday 31 May 2009 is a date that will go down in Roland Garros history as the day that both title-holders – Rafael Nadal and Ana Ivanovic – are knocked out in the fourth round. While the Serb’s defeat at the hands of world No.9 Victoria Azarenka is not much of a surprise in the context of her early-season struggles, Rafa losing to Sweden’s Robin Söderling is a result which shocks the world. The four-time defending champion had never lost at Roland Garros and was the hottest of favorites coming into the event, making his defeat all the more spectacular. 

Roger Federer makes the most of this slip by Nadal to write his name in the history books by winning Roland-Garros for the first time in his career, defeating Söderling in the final to win his 14th Grand Slam title and thus equal Pete Sampras’ record. A new player is also crowned in the women’s singles, namely Svetlana Kuznetsova who overcomes fellow Russian and world No.1 Dinara Safina in the final. 

In the juniors, the French strut their stuff with Kristina Mladenovic winning the girl’s singles and Gianni Mina making the final of the boy’s singles. The tournament also sees the 20th and final participation of 36-year-old Fabrice Santoro, equalling François Jauffret’s record

Video highlights