Roger Federer hasn’t thanked me for beating Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros in 2009, jokes Robin Soderling

Robin Soderling joked on Thursday that he was still waiting for Roger Federer to thank him for beating Rafael Nadal after nine years.

Roger Federer won the 2009 French Open title.

Robin Soderling, who beat Rafael Nadal in a four-set last-16 match nine years ago, joked on Thursday that he was still waiting for Roger Federer to thank him for allowing the Swiss to win the 2009 French Open title.

Soderling not only beat the then four-time champion, but became the first man to do so at Roland Garros, ending Nadal’s 31-match unbeaten streak in Paris. As a result of that, the Swede Soderling managed to make it to the final, where he eventually went down to Federer, who completed his career Grand Slam.

Speaking at the ongoing Roland Garros on Thursday, Soderling, whose career came to an abrupt end in 2011 after being diagnosed with mononucleosis, said, “No, he hasn’t thanked me. I’m still waiting. When he saw I beat Rafa, I think he was a little bit happy, of course. But maybe he could have beat him in the finals. Who knows?”

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Soderling said that Federer, who has skipped the clay-court season for the last two years, would still be playing at Roland Garros if that title was missing from his glittering Grand Slam collection, which has now reached 20. “I think that what changed is that I think if Roger so far hadn’t won Roland Garros, I think he still would be playing here. Now he chose to not play at all on clay for the last couple of years, which I think is a good decision, because he really wants to play as long as possible. He’s really trying to make his career as long as he can.”

Adding that the on-court rivalry has helped both Federer and Nadal, Soderling added, “They’re just different persons from all of us. They are still hungry. But I really think that the rivalry between them on court has helped them both. I think maybe that’s one of the reasons Roger is still playing, because he feels that, ‘Okay, if I retire now or any time soon, if Rafa plays a few more years, maybe he will beat a few of my records’.”