Date 24 May – 7 June Category Grand Slam (ITF) Location Paris (XVI), France | Edition 108th Surface Clay Venue Stade Roland Garros | |
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The 2009 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 108th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from May 24 through June 7, 2009.
Contents
- Rafael Nadal record winning streak and loss to Robin Sderling
- Maria Sharapovas comeback
- Federers Career Grand Slam
- Singles players
- Day 1 May 24
- Day 2 May 25
- Day 3 May 26
- Day 4 May 27
- Day 5 May 28
- Day 6 May 29
- Day 7 May 30
- Day 8 May 31
- Day 9 June 1
- Day 10 June 2
- Day 11 June 3
- Day 12 June 4
- Day 13 June 5
- Day 14 June 6
- Day 15 June 7
- Mens singles
- Womens singles
- Mens doubles
- Womens doubles
- Mixed doubles
- Boys singles
- Girls singles
- Boys doubles
- Girls doubles
- Legends under 45 doubles
- Legends over 45 doubles
- Wheelchair mens singles
- Wheelchair womens singles
- Wheelchair mens doubles
- Wheelchair womens doubles
- Seeds
- Wildcard entries
- Media coverage
- References
Rafael Nadal and Ana Ivanovic were the defending champions. Both failed to defend their titles, losing to Robin Söderling and Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round respectively. Nadal's loss to Söderling was his first defeat in the tournament since debuting in 2005, and would remain his sole loss at the tournament until the 2015 French Open. Söderling proceeded to defeat Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando González on his way to the final, where he was defeated by Roger Federer. By winning the French Open, Federer equalled Pete Sampras' then-record of 14 Grand Slam titles, and completed his Career Grand Slam by winning the tournament; he had lost the previous three finals to Nadal. Svetlana Kuznetsova, the runner-up to Justine Henin-Hardenne in 2006, was the women's champion this year. She defeated World No. 1 Dinara Safina in the final, avenging a semi-final loss to the same opponent in 2008.
Rafael Nadal record winning streak, and loss to Robin Söderling
Entering the tournament, four-time champion Rafael Nadal was unbeaten in French Open singles matches, having won every match and tournament since his debut in 2005. His victory against Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili in the second round on May 27 was his 30th consecutive win, breaking the record for the longest French Open winning streak by a man or woman, held by Chris Evert, who won 29 consecutive matches. Nadal extended the record to 31 consecutive matches by beating Lleyton Hewitt on May 29.
In his fourth round match on May 31, Nadal was defeated by World No. 23 Robin Söderling in four sets, 2–6, 7–6, 4–6, 6–7. The upset result ended Nadal's French Open winning streak at 31 matches. Söderling had never previously reached the fourth round of any Grand Slam tournament, and had never previously beaten Nadal in three attempts, although he had taken him to five sets at Wimbledon in 2007. Söderling proceeded to reach the final, defeating Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets and Fernando González in five sets before losing to Roger Federer in his first Grand Slam final appearance.
Of the upset result, former three-time French Open champion Mats Wilander stated that "Everybody's in a state of shock, I would think. At some point, Nadal was going to lose. But nobody expected it to happen today, and maybe not this year. Now it's a matter of: There's a tournament to be won." Nadal would begin another streak the next year, and did not lose another match at the tournament until the 2015 French Open, when he lost to Novak Djokovic.
Maria Sharapova's comeback
After nearly a year out of the sport due to a serious shoulder injury which forced her to miss the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2008 US Open and her Australian Open title defence, Maria Sharapova, who had plummeted to as low as World No. 126 during her time away from the sport, entered the tournament ranked World No. 102, and surprised many by reaching the quarter-finals, where she was defeated 6–0, 6–2 by Dominika Cibulková (Sharapova had to defend a match point at 0–6, 0–5 down). Sharapova, unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2003, had won all of her first four matches in three sets.
Federer's Career Grand Slam
Roger Federer won the finals against Robin Söderling to finally win the French Open tournament for the first time in his career, after he was beaten in three previous finals by Nadal. With this win, he completed his career Grand Slam, titles in all four Grand Slam tournaments in his career. He became the third male player in the Open era (after Rod Laver and Andre Agassi) and sixth male player in tennis history overall to accomplish the feat.
Singles players
Day 1 (May 24)
Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan became the first male winner at this year's French Open. French favourites Julie Coin and Mathieu Montcourt enjoyed safe passages through to the second round, but compatriot Mathilde Johansson was unable to use the crowd's advantage, falling to Vitalia Diatchenko 2–6, 6–2, 10–8. Lleyton Hewitt came from 2 tiebreak sets down, taking a third set tiebreak and eventually the match over the 26th seeded Croat Ivo Karlović, winning 6–7(1), 6–7(4), 7–6(4), 6–4, 6–3, to cause the first upset of a seed in the tournament. Karlovic set the new record for the greatest number of aces in the match, serving 55, but couldn't find a way to win. French wildcard Josselin Ouanna came from two sets to one behind to defeat Marcel Granollers, 7–5, 2–6, 3–6, 7–6(2), 6–1. However, Amélie Mauresmo lost to Anna-Lena Grönefeld 6–4, 6–3, to add to her history of early-round exits at Roland Garros. However, seventh seed Gilles Simon recovered from a tight clash with Wayne Odesnik, 4–6, 7–5, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3. Former French Open champion Gastón Gaudio made a disappointing start to his grand slam comeback, losing in straight sets to Radek Štěpánek 6–3, 6–4, 6–1.
Day 2 (May 25)
World number one and top seed Dinara Safina thrashed British Number one Anne Keothavong, 6–0, 6–0 in the first match on Philippe Chatrier, followed by ATP World Tour Champion and four-time defending champion, top seed Rafael Nadal defeating Brazilian qualifier Marcos Daniel 7–5, 6–4, 6–3. Second seed Roger Federer followed with a comfortable victory over Alberto Martín 6–4, 6–3, 6–2. Third seed Venus Williams struggled against Bethanie Mattek-Sands, but won 6–1, 4–6, 6–2. French wildcard Guillaume Rufin, who turned 19 on day 3, upset Eduardo Schwank, who reached the second week last year, 6–1, 6–3, 6–3 to the delight of French fans. However, fans were disappointed to see their Nicolas Devilder fall in five sets (despite holding a two sets to love lead) to seventeenth seed Stanislas Wawrinka, 6–3, 5–7, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4. More disappointment came when Romain Jouan, another wildcard, fell 6–2, 6–4, 6–2 to sixth seed Andy Roddick. However, more good news for American fans followed when Fed Cup heroine Alexa Glatch stunned Flavia Pennetta 6–1, 6–1, to advance to the second round. Kateryna Bondarenko upset Patty Schnyder, and 13th seed Marion Bartoli recovered in an all-French affair to beat Pauline Parmentier 3–6, 6–1, 6–3. Two more French wild cards fell as Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova defeated Irena Pavlovic and Australian Jarmila Groth beat Kinnie Laisné. Seeds Nikolay Davydenko, Robin Söderling, and Zheng Jie also advanced. Another of the day's upsets came at the hands Colombia's Mariana Duque Mariño, who beat former Top 5 player and 26th seeded Russia's Anna Chakvetadze, winning 3–6, 6–4, 6–4.
Day 3 (May 26)
Serbs Jelena Janković and Novak Djoković had no problems in their first round matches, beating Petra Cetkovská and Nicolás Lapentti respectively. Serena Williams came through a tough tie – in which she squandered eight match points – against Czech Klára Zakopalová to win 6–3, 6–7(5), 6–4. All French seeds came through unscathed with victories for Marion Bartoli, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Gaël Monfils. The United States' hopes of having a French Open champion took a big blow as James Blake and Mardy Fish both lost to Argentinian opponents. Fish lost to Máximo González 6–3, 1–6, 6–4, 7–6(4), and Blake, the highest seed to fall on Day 3, was beaten convincingly by Argentinian qualifier Leonardo Mayer 7–6(6), 7–5, 6–2. Number 27 seed Rainer Schüttler was comprehensively beaten by home favourite Marc Gicquel 6–0, 6–0, 6–4 and Chinese number 31 seed Peng Shuai was the only women's seed to go out, as she lost to Spain's María José Martínez Sánchez 1–6, 6–2, 6–4. There were victories for 10th seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki, former finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova, Olympic gold medallist Elena Dementieva and World No. 5 Juan Martín del Potro.
Day 4 (May 27)
Day 4 saw the start of the second round matches in both the men's and women's draws. The first match up on Court Philippe Chatrier was world number 3 Andy Murray, who he faced Italian world number 104 Potito Starace. Murray was made to work hard, as Starace took control of the tie and levelled the match at one set all. At 5–1 in the third set, Murray worked his way back to reel of 6 games in a row, and went on the win 6–3, 2–6, 7–5, 6–4. World number 1 Dinara Safina was first up on Court Suzanne Lenglen, and made light work of Vitalia Diatchenko, winning 6–1, 6–1. Defending women's champion Ana Ivanovic also won comprehensively, beating Tamarine Tanasugarn to enter the third round. French tennis fans had reason to cheer as number 15 seed Alizé Cornet resumed her match from day 3, and beat Maret Ani 6–4, 7–5 to advance to the second round. Another Frenchwoman, Aravane Rezaï beat Slovenian qualifier Polona Hercog to book a tie with Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito in the third round, who beat number 15 seed Zheng Jie earlier in the day. Unseeded Maria Sharapova faced number 11 seed Nadia Petrova in her first match against a top 20 player since her 10-month absence from the tour due to injury. A gutsy Sharapova came through with a 3 sets victory, 8–6 in the third. Gilles Simon was the only seeded Frenchman playing on day 4, and made swift work of American Robert Kendrick 7–5, 6–0, 6–1. Defending champion Rafael Nadal made history by becoming the first person to win 30 consecutive matches at Roland Garros by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili. French wildcard Josselin Ouanna caused perhaps the biggest upset of the day by beating number 20 seed Marat Safin in an epic five set match, in which he won the final set 10–8.
The first matches of the doubles competition were played, with World No. 1 team Liezel Huber & Cara Black, Květa Peschke & Lisa Raymond, defending champions Anabel Medina Garrigues & Virginia Ruano Pascual and Samantha Stosur & Rennae Stubbs were amongst the first to advance to the second round of the women's doubles.
On the men's side, defending champions Pablo Cuevas & Luis Horna, Lukáš Dlouhý & Leander Paes, Bruno Soares & Kevin Ullyett and Mariusz Fyrstenberg & Marcin Matkowski all advanced to the second round. However, number 7 seeds Andy Ram & Max Mirnyi and number 10 seeds Marcelo Melo & André Sá suffered shock first round defeats.
Schedule of play
Day 5 (May 28)
Day 5 got off to a slow start from a French perspective, as number 13 seed and home favourite Marion Bartoli succumbed to Tathiana Garbin of Italy in straight sets on Court Philippe Chatrier. And the day got worse for France as number 21 seed Alizé Cornet could not find her way past Romanian teenager Sorana Cîrstea. However, they did have some consolation, as Virginie Razzano navigated her way past Anabel Medina Garrigues, and booked a place in the third round to play Bartoli conqueror Garbin. On Court Suzanne Lenglen, Serb Jelena Janković had little problem in seeing off Slovakian opponent Magdaléna Rybáriková, 6–1, 6–2. Venus Williams was made to work very hard to make the third round, as she went the distance with Lucie Šafářová, narrowly winning the final set 7–5. There were also victories for Elena Dementieva, Agnieszka Radwańska, former finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova and 2002 champion Serena Williams.
Meanwhile, in the men's draw, Roger Federer was first up on Court Philippe Chatrier as he faced clay court specialist José Acasuso. Roger narrowly won the first set 7–6(8) in a first set tie-break, but Acasuso was not ready to falter, and came back stronger in the second set and eventually winning 7–5. Acasuso continued to put up strong resistance and took Federer to a third set tie-break, however Federer was too strong and won, from thereon Federer had little problem dispatching Acasuso winning the match 7–6(8), 5–7, 7–6(2), 6–2. Federer's victory set him up with a third round tie with Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu. After disappointed from the French ladies, the men did not disappoint. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gaël Monfils and Jérémy Chardy and Marc Gicquel all advanced to the third round. No seeds were knocked out, as there were victories from number 5 seed Juan Martín del Potro, Andy Roddick and Tommy Robredo, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Igor Andreev and Jürgen Melzer.
There was only one shocking exit from the men's doubles on the day, as Jeff Coetzee & Jordan Kerr were knocked out by the hands of Jaroslav Levinský & Igor Zelenay. Bob & Mike Bryan, Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjić, Rik de Voest & Ashley Fisher and Łukasz Kubot & Oliver Marach all secured places in the second round of the doubles.
There no upsets in the women's doubles, as all seeds made safe progress through to the second round including Serena & Venus Williams and Květa Peschke & Lisa Raymond.
On day 5, the mixed doubles got under way, which saw just one upset. Nenad Zimonjić & Yan Zi fell to the hands of Bruno Soares & Alisa Kleybanova. Cara Black & Leander Paes, Lisa Raymond & Marcin Matkowski, Nadia Petrova & Max Mirnyi and Elena Vesnina & Daniel Nestor all advanced to the second round.
Schedule of play
Day 6 (May 29)
There were mixed French fortunes on Day 6. Aravane Rezaï beat Michelle Larcher de Brito to move into the fourth round. The newest French star, Josselin Ouanna, saw his run come to an end at the hands of 12th seeded Chilean Fernando González, 7–5, 6–3, 7–5. Following that, Gilles Simon, seeded 7th, suffered a collapse to 30th seed Victor Hănescu 6–4, 6–4, 6–2. Rafael Nadal, the four-time defending champion and World Number 1, looked in stellar form as he continued his undefeated run against Lleyton Hewitt, a former holder of the top ranking, 6–1, 6–3, 6–1. Stanislas Wawrinka was eliminated in four sets by tenth seeded Nikolay Davydenko, whilst Fernando Verdasco beat countryman Nicolás Almagro and Robin Söderling, the 23rd seed, set up a clash with Nadal by beating David Ferrer in four sets. Ágnes Szávay stunned third seed Venus Williams 6–0, 6–4, and Novak Djokovic beat Sergiy Stakhovsky. Additionally, defending champion Ana Ivanovic, Đoković's compatriot, advanced convincingly over Iveta Benešová, seeded 32nd, 6–0, 6–2. Andy Murray led Janko Tipsarević two sets to love before the Serb retired.
Schedule of play
Day 7 (May 30)
Schedule of play
Day 8 (May 31)
Day 8 saw Rafael Nadal lose his first ever match at French Open to Swede Robin Söderling, which ended his streak of 31 wins in a row at Roland Garros. Also out was defending women's champion Ana Ivanovic. Former world number 1 Maria Sharapova continued her miraculous run by defeating Li Na 6–4, 0–6, 6–4 to reach the quarterfinals, after returning from nine months away from the game. Nikolay Davydenko beat Fernando Verdasco to advance to the quarters with Söderling. Fernando González beat Victor Hănescu in straight sets to set up a quarterfinal with number four Andy Murray, a winner over Marin Čilić in tight but straight sets. World Number 1 Dinara Safina continued her dominant run of losing just 5 games all tournament against Aravane Rezaï, winning 6–1, 6–0.
Schedule of play
Day 9 (June 1)
Schedule of play
Day 10 (June 2)
Schedule of play
Day 11 (June 3)
Schedule of play
Day 12 (June 4)
Schedule of play
Day 13 (June 5)
Schedule of play
Day 14 (June 6)
Schedule of play
Day 15 (June 7)
The men's singles final was briefly interrupted as Jimmy Jump carrying a FC Barcelona banner ran onto the court during the second set, running around Roger Federer and even putting a cap on him, then jumping over the net before being taken out by security. This is the first time this has ever happened at the French Open, however the occurrence did not seem to throw off Federer, as he won the set, and eventually the match. Federer also completed a career Grand Slam and tied Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam titles after winning the French Open.
Schedule of play
Men's singles
Roger Federer defeated Robin Söderling, 6–1, 7–6(1), 6–4
Women's singles
Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dinara Safina, 6–4, 6–2
Men's doubles
Lukáš Dlouhý / Leander Paes defeated Wesley Moodie / Dick Norman, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Women's doubles
Anabel Medina / Virginia Ruano Pascual defeated Victoria Azarenka / Elena Vesnina, 6–1, 6–1
Mixed doubles
Liezel Huber / Bob Bryan defeated Vania King / Marcelo Melo, 5–7, 7–6(5), 10–7
Boys' singles
Daniel Berta defeated Gianni Mina, 6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Girls' singles
Kristina Mladenovic defeated Daria Gavrilova, 6–3, 6–2
Boys' doubles
Marin Draganja / Dino Marcan defeated Guilherme Clezar / Huang Liang-chi, 6–3, 6–2
Girls' doubles
Elena Bogdan / Noppawan Lertcheewakarn defeated Tímea Babos / Heather Watson, 3–6, 6–3, 10–8
Legends under 45 doubles
Paul Haarhuis / Cédric Pioline defeated Pat Cash / Emilio Sánchez, 6–3, 6–4
Legends over 45 doubles
Anders Järryd / John McEnroe defeated Mansour Bahrami / Henri Leconte, 7–6(2), 6–1
Wheelchair men's singles
Shingo Kunieda defeated Stéphane Houdet, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Wheelchair women's singles
Esther Vergeer defeated Korie Homan, 6–2, 7–5
Wheelchair men's doubles
Stéphane Houdet / Michaël Jeremiasz defeated Robin Ammerlaan / Maikel Scheffers, 6–2, 7–5
Wheelchair women's doubles
Korie Homan / Esther Vergeer defeated Annick Sevenans / Aniek van Koot, 6–2, 6–3
Seeds
Withdrawals: David Nalbandian, Richard Gasquet, Katarina Srebotnik, Vera Zvonareva.
Wildcard entries
Below are the lists of the wildcard awardees entering in the main draws.
Media coverage
In the US, coverage was provided by The Tennis Channel. In France, the French Open is broadcast live by France Télévisions & Eurosport. In the UK & Republic of Ireland it is broadcast live by BBC & Eurosport, Irish viewers can also watch live on TG4. In Switzerland it is broadcast live by SF, Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana & Télévision Suisse Romande. In Serbia it is broadcast live by RTS & Eurosport. In Sweden it is broadcast live by Eurosport, and because of Robin Söderling's final, SVT also broadcast the men's final live.