French Open: Day 13 Update

Surprising Swede Robin Soderling holds off Fernando Gonzalez to reach French Open finals, in a five-set thriller. The 12th seed looked favourite to win at 4-1 up in the final set, but Soderling regained his composure to reel off five games in a row. The Swede, seeded 23, began well and comfortably took the first two sets, but the Chilean edged a thrilling third and battled back to steal the fourth.
"It's unbelievable," said Soderling. "I played well in the first two sets. Then he started to play incredibly well.

"I was down a break in the final set but I said to myself that I have nothing to lose. I started to return great and everything changed.

"I still have far to go with the most difficult match, maybe against Federer, to come on Sunday."

Gonzalez, in only his second Grand Slam semi-final, seemed to lose his cool in the fifth game with an increasing number of errors, but he hung in there with the second set progressing with serve.

I never felt comfortable," said Gonzalez. "I couldn't hit clearly and it was tough.

"I served at 4-3 in the final set and I knew I had the match in my hands. I wanted to win it on my first serves, not second, but he made some great returns.

"If he keeps serving at over 200kph and finding the lines, it'll be tough for whoever he faces in the final."