May 31, 2009
By Karen Crouse
The seeds of Robin Soderling’s upset of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros on Sunday were planted two summers ago in a third-round match at Wimbledon.
Soderling, clearly irritated by Nadal’s snail pace, started to imitate him, at one point tugging at the rear of his shorts to mimic one of Nadal’s playing peccadilloes. He would later say he was interjecting some fun into the proceedings — providing a lighthearted moment in what had been a very long match — but Nadal was not amused.
After Nadal finally dispatched Soderling in the match, which covered five days and five sets, he accused Soderling of being a bad sport. When asked to elaborate on the bad blood between the two, Nadal gave an example from the match, saying that when he stumbled and fell while chasing a net cord that landed in play, Soderling couldn’t be bothered to apologize or peek over the net to see if he was O.K.
In the genteel world of tennis, that is no small offense. It would be considered nearly as bad a show of sportsmanship as the Cavaliers’ LeBron James leaving the court Saturday night without shaking the hands of the Orlando players who had just ended Cleveland’s season.
Nadal also suggested that Soderling isn’t well-liked in the locker room. When his comments were relayed to Soderling, the Swede said: “I would never say that about anyone on the press conference. I mean, I could say the same.”
Soderling added that Nadal “must have been in his complaining mood. If my opponent doesn’t say I’m sorry, I don’t care. For me it’s O.K. Why should I say I’m sorry when I’m in the moment of my life?”
After tripping Nadal, the top seed, on Sunday, Soderling no doubt felt an apology was most unnecessary.
By Karen Crouse
The seeds of Robin Soderling’s upset of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros on Sunday were planted two summers ago in a third-round match at Wimbledon.
Soderling, clearly irritated by Nadal’s snail pace, started to imitate him, at one point tugging at the rear of his shorts to mimic one of Nadal’s playing peccadilloes. He would later say he was interjecting some fun into the proceedings — providing a lighthearted moment in what had been a very long match — but Nadal was not amused.
After Nadal finally dispatched Soderling in the match, which covered five days and five sets, he accused Soderling of being a bad sport. When asked to elaborate on the bad blood between the two, Nadal gave an example from the match, saying that when he stumbled and fell while chasing a net cord that landed in play, Soderling couldn’t be bothered to apologize or peek over the net to see if he was O.K.
In the genteel world of tennis, that is no small offense. It would be considered nearly as bad a show of sportsmanship as the Cavaliers’ LeBron James leaving the court Saturday night without shaking the hands of the Orlando players who had just ended Cleveland’s season.
Nadal also suggested that Soderling isn’t well-liked in the locker room. When his comments were relayed to Soderling, the Swede said: “I would never say that about anyone on the press conference. I mean, I could say the same.”
Soderling added that Nadal “must have been in his complaining mood. If my opponent doesn’t say I’m sorry, I don’t care. For me it’s O.K. Why should I say I’m sorry when I’m in the moment of my life?”
After tripping Nadal, the top seed, on Sunday, Soderling no doubt felt an apology was most unnecessary.
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