Roger and out

Defending champion Roger Federer suffered a stunning quarter-final exit at the French Open on Tuesday when he lost 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 to Sweden’s Robin Soderling in a rain-interrupted match.

The world number one crumbled in the face of a ferocious onslaught as Soderling, beaten by Federer in last year’s final, claimed a first career win against the 16-times grand slam champion at the 13^th attempt.

Federer looked comfortable when he won the first set but the match then began to slip away from him. Returning from a rain delay at 5-5 in the third set, the Swiss immediately lost his serve and Soderling moved into a two sets to one lead.

The Swede broke serve twice in the decider and never faltered as he clinched victory on his first match point when Federer hit a forehand long.

Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic reached the semi-finals of the French Open on Tuesday by defeating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.

The 15^th seed will play Robin Soderling of Sweden on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final.

Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to reach the French Open semifinals since 1954 by beating No. 3-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old Schiavone collapsed face-down on centre court and kissed the clay after becoming the first Italian woman to make it into the semifinals at any Grand Slam tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968.

“I’m enjoying it so much,” Schiavone said. “When you work a lot, hard every morning, every afternoon of your life, and arrive at a good result, I think you feel much more.”

Schiavone’s opponent on Thursday will be No. 5-seeded Elena Dementieva, who rallied past fellow Russian Nadia Petrova, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. The showing is Dementieva’s best at Roland Garros since 2004, when she was runner-up.

Schiavone had not reached the last eight at Roland Garros since 2001. This time she made the most of her chance.

The 17^th-seeded Schiavone won with steady, sometimes loopy groundstrokes, limiting errors while mixing the pace to keep Wozniacki off-balance. Rallies sometimes became moonball exchanges reminiscent of the wooden-racket era.

“She’s definitely a difficult player to play against, because she plays with a lot of spin,” Wozniacki said. “She plays differently. She mixes up the balls a lot. She didn’t play typical women’s tennis.”

Schiavone played serve and volley to win the next-to-last point. After she slammed an overhead winner on her final shot, she leaped, raised her arms with a scream and lifted her racket over her head in jubilation. Then she kissed the clay.

Schiavone broke serve six times, won 13 of 16 points when she reached the net and enjoyed a 25-10 edge in winners.

“I didn’t give her many chance to let her play easy,” Schiavone said. “I played long and sometimes short and tried to come to the net. It was a good mix.”

Wozniacki, at 19, was the tournament’s youngest quarter-finalist. She was playing in her second Grand Slam quarterfinal after reaching the US Open final last year. —