Roger Federer record ended by brilliant Robin Soderling

Lycklig 13. It is Lucky 13 in Swedish and, as rain fell like summer tears, Robin Söderling pounded Roger Federer into submission at Roland Garros in a manner that ripped the magic wand from the great man’s right hand.

Söderling brought Rafael Nadal’s record of 31 consecutive victories on these famed red courts to a close in the fourth round last year. This time, he pooped Federer’s extraordinary run of 23 consecutive grand-slam semi-finals — a sequence unlikely to be achieved again. He did it because he never took a step back, never doubted in his strength and never gave an inch. Söderling won 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in a quarter-final of brutal hitting, mostly his.

Having lost on each of the dozen times they had played — the past three of which were last year’s final here, at Wimbledon and in the US Open — it might have been expected that the loss of the first set would undermine the Swede’s opportunity once again.

But therein lies the paradox of the latest in his country’s tennis line. Söderling eschews publicity, he is an introvert who dislikes being pointed out or probed. He refused his own media’s requests for an interview on Sunday to talk about playing Federer.

Yet, on the court, he is expansive and bright-eyed. Even when the first set slipped by, he believed that he would turn the match around — and did.

Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander won this title for Sweden nine times in the 1970s and ’80s by wearing down the opposition with a mixture of classical movement and exaggerated spins. Both had wondrous athleticism and endurance, Borg was bowlegged but covered the court incredibly. His double-fisted backhand was adapted from the slap shot in hockey.

Söderling certainly gave Federer a slap. He is altogether more powerful than his compatriots, taking huge swings through the ball, striking it flat and deep and ripping it through the top of the dirt. He did not win last year’s final against Federer because he did not really believe that he could. This will not be the case any more.

The Swiss — who would have equalled Pete Sampras’s record of 286 weeks at No 1 had he won and will become the world No 2 if Nadal reclaims the title on Sunday — did all that he could to withstand Söderling’s ferocity but for the most part he was being bullied.

That does not sit well with him, nor with the crowd, who sat for the most part in stunned silence as their champion was rocked from a succession of punishing blows. He might have survived had he been able to manufacture an outrageous defensive winner from a full-blooded smash on his one set point at 5-4 in the third set. Söderling dismissed that thought with a secure high backhand winner.

Upon the resumption after a 75-minute hiatus for rain at 5-5, Söderling immediately broke, though Federer helped him on his way with a double fault that delivered the break point. On his second set point — which was replayed when Federer stopped a rally and the umpire confirmed that a presumed winner had landed just long — Söderling simply sent down an ace.

In the manner of someone who would not go down without bravura resistance, Federer broke first in the fourth set, only to lapse in the next game. From then on, the Swiss looked as if he was trapped in a sandpit. The calf muscles were achingly unresponsive as Söderling discovered ornate angles and unremitting depth.

In the semi-finals, Söderling will meet Tomas Berdych, who followed up his dismissal of a subdued Andy Murray on Sunday with another straight-sets victory — his fifth in succession — this time over Mikhail Youhzny, of Russia. The Czech has reached this stage of a grand-slam tournament for the first time and those expecting aesthetic delights on Friday will be disabused. One doubts we will see a single drop shot.

Federer was due to be crowned the ITF’s world champion at a black-tie dinner last night, not an occasion he was likely to enjoy. He was having trouble delivering a urine sample to comply with the sport’s doping regulations before he left. It was not his day.