The upsets at the French Open continue. The most surprising of them all was the dethronement of 'Rafa'....the king of clay...by the giant Swede Robin Soderling....who has managed to reach the final. Soderling's record prior to the French this year was dismal. His dismisal of Ferrer, Nadal, Davydenko and outclassing Fernando Gonsales in 5 tremendous sets has been the talking point. The erstwhile world champion and the holder of 13 grand slams Roger Federer has one final opponent in his way.....The earlier years Federer really did not sweat much to make it to the finals...though in the finals invariably Rafael Nadal got the better of him quite easily. This year he has had to slog it to the final. Probably for the first time in his career he has had to play 2 five setters enroute to a grand slam final- his 19th overall putting him alongside Ivan Lendl.

Will Federer finally conquer his French demons? He is in elite company...Edberg, Becker, Sampras, Mcenroe all accomplished players and holders of several grand slams...met their match on the slow clay at Roland Garros.