The French Open men's final 2009 match between #2 Roger Federer and #23 Robin Soderling is set to start in about a half an hour. Coverage starts at 9:00 a.m. EST on NBC.
It's been a great tournament so far with some amazing upsets and big comebacks. Especially for Soderling who knocked off #1 Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. Nadal was considered an automatic for the finals since he had won the last four French Open tournaments but Soderling was able to eliminate him in four sets. Ranked 23rd, Soderling was also able to beat #10 Nikolav Davydenko and #12 Fernando Gonzalez to reach the finals. He had to comeback from down 4 - 1 in the fifth set against Gonzalez in order to advance.
Federer on the other hand is no surprise. He was expected to make it far into the tourney and challenge for the title. However in order to get to the finals he had to make a couple incredible comebacks. In the fourth round he was down two sets to none before he clawed his way back to win three straight sets and advance to the quarterfinals. In the semifinals he got in a hole again, digging himself a deficit of two sets to one against #5 Juan Martin Del Potro. Again he was able to show some resolve and win two straight sets to advance to the finals.
It sets up to be a great match-up for the championship. I am flipping back and forth on who I want to see win. Federer on one hand has never won the French Open and this would complete his career Grand Slam. But I always like to see the underdog win, and it would be great to see Soderling win over the #2 ranked player after already beating the #1 ranked player. I think I'll be rooting for Soderling.
