When Roger Federer made the finals of the 2008 Wimbledon finals, he was going for a record sixth straight Wimbledon title, breaking Borg’s five consecutive Wimbledons in the Open era. Could he surpass the amazing Swede?

In the dusk of London, Rafael Nadal finally broke through, breaking Roger and holding to win his first Wimbledon. Roger tied, but could not break the record.

This year, Rafael Nadal was going for his fifth consecutive French Open. Borg had won 6 titles, but only 4 in a row (1978-1981). People were speculating in a rather silly way that there was a Borg curse. That you didn’t break Borg’s records.

Of course, this is folly. Sampras and Federer have broken plenty of Grand Slam records. Sampras with overall Wimbledon titles, Federer with number of consecutive US Opens (Borg never won the US Open).

So almost everyone believed Nadal would break Borg’s consecutive French open title record. With two titles and a finals appearance on the three clays Masters 1000 events (Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid) and with a beatdown of Lleyton Hewitt, most felt that there were only a handful of people who could beat Nadal. They included Federer, Djokovic, and perhaps, on a lucky day, Fernando Verdasco.

Of all the people who you might think could take Nadal down, you’d have to go down a pretty long list to come up with the name Robin Soderling.

The 24 year old Swede, 6 foot 4, had never beaten Nadal. You might expect Soderling to challenge Nadal on grass where the big Swede’s huge serve rivals Ivo Karlovic. Think of him as Karlovic Junior with better groundstrokes.

Soderling had played Nadal as recently as Rome this year where he took 1 game off Nadal in a straight set pummeling. He lost in straight sets to Nadal at Roland Garros in 2006. This did not look like a man who was ready to take the king of clay down.

When Soderling took the first set, 6-2, attention picked up. Nadal had not dropped a set last year in 2008. He had yet to drop a set this year. And to drop a set so convincingly. Something must be going on.

Soderling pushed Nadal to a second set tiebreak, which Nadal won, and it seemed this would be enough for Nadal to get a four set win. Surely, Soderling wasn’t tough enough to hang with the master. He’d crack.

But no, he breaks Nadal at 3-all in the third set to take a 4-3 lead. Ten minutes later, he’s serving for the set at 5-4 and takes the third set.

Soderling stood calm. In the fourth set, Soderling fell back an early break. He managed to break back. You have to give credit to a guy to keep his nerve and keep holding serve, especially against a player as formidable as Nadal. Soderling had deuce games on his serves, but continued to power tough ground strokes which Nadal seemed, at times, helpless to recover.

In the tiebreak, Soderling served to go up 1-0, then Nadal held 1 of 2 points, and Soderling was up 2-1. Soderling held both points to go up 4-1, then took both points off Nadal for a 6-1 lead. Nadal hit a great forehand to get to 6-2. Soderling hits a short ball which Nadal attacks. On the pass, Nadal volleys the shot just wide, and Nadal has lost for the first time ever on the clay. As great as Nadal is at the backcourt, he’s vulnerable coming to net where most of the top players pass incredibly well. Soderling won two points on Nadal approaches to the net during the tiebreak.

How did Soderling win? To be fair, Nadal was not on his game for whatever reason. However, that’s not usually enough to beat Rafa. The other player also has to win points too.

Soderling used smart forays to the net to diffuse Nadal. He won 27 of 35 points at the net. More critically, he was amazing on break points. He broke 5 of 6 opportunities he had, which basically meant that if Nadal was down break point, Soderling won the game.

The whole draw opens up in Nadal’s half. In particular, Verdasco has a chance to come through his half. Murray will need to play huge tennis to get to the semis. He has to get past Fernando Gonzalez, and if he gets past him, possibly Verdasco too.

Can Soderling actually use this win to move on? Past experience says no. When Federer beat Sampras at Wimbledon, he lost in the next round to Tim Henman. It’s hard to engineer an upset, then to continue to ride a string of upsets forward. Soderling does have some weapons, especially on serve, so he could make that leap, but with so many tough players in his half, getting to the final would be an unbelievable achievement.

Perhaps, on this most monumental of upsets, they need a new slogan for the tournament.

Roland Garros.

Where impossible happens.

(Note: Davydenko just opened up with a 6-2 first set over Verdasco. This tournament is going crazy).