2009 ATP World Tour Finals Radek Štěpánek and the Malaysian Open losing to Nikolay Davydenko. Verdasco is making his debut at the championship. After Roddick's withdrawal due to left leg injury on 17 November Robin Söderling was announced as his replacement. Robin Söderling 's highlight of the year was reaching the French Open final. After becoming the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the Roland Garros. He won his only title of the year at the Catella Swedish Open defeating Juan Mónaco. He reached 4 semifinals as well at the Heineken Open, Proton Malaysian Open, China Open, and the If Stockholm Open. Soderling is
Rafael Nadal Federer in the final of the Masters Series Hamburg. This defeat ended his 81-match winning streak on clay, which is the male Open Era record for consecutive wins on a single surface. He then rebounded to win the French Open for the third straight year, defeating Federer once again in the final. Between the tournaments in Barcelona and Rome, Nadal defeated Federer in the "Battle of Surfaces" exhibition match in Mallorca, Spain, with the tennis court being half grass and half clay. Nadal played the Artois Championships at the Queen's Club in London for the second consecutive year. As in