To Roger Federer, the clay surface at the French Open had always served as a nemesis.

It wasn’t until 2009 that Federer broke through at Roland Garros even though the splendid Swiss star had dominated the three other grand slam tournaments on the ATP Tour. Federer finally solved the French Open last year when he beat Swede Robin Soderling in the final for his first French Open title who is perhaps the greatest player in the history of the sport, and became of one of the most favorite online sports betting tennis stars of all time.

Federer’s rival Rafael Nadal was dominating headlines, prior to his championship win. By winning his 30th consecutive match at the tournament when he beat Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round, the powerful left-hander set a French Open record.

Nadal, ran his streak to 31 consecutive wins prior to be defeated by Soderling in four sets in the quarterfinals and Nadal had won four consecutive French Open titles from 2004-08.

Juan Martin del Potro was oust by Soderling in the semifinals. To make it to the final, Federer defeated Fernando Gonzalez.

A championship upset stunned all on the women’s side.

Top-seed Dinara Safina was beaten by seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova. The semifinals featured two participants with double-digit seeds, prior to the championship match. Dominika Cibulková was the 20th seed and Samantha Stosur was seeded 30th, yet both made it to the semifinals.

Former world No. 1 Maria Sharipova was bounced in the quarterfinals as was second-seed Serena Williams. Venus, Serena’s sister, could not get past the third round.

Dinara Safina · French Open · Roger Federer · Swede Robin Soderling