Rafael Nadal lost the final of the Madrid Open to Roger Federer. This was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semifinals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup. By beating Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of French Open, Nadal set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros, beating the previous record of 28 by Björn Borg. This run came to an end on 31 May 2009, when Nadal lost to eventual runner-up, Robin Söderling in the 4th round. This was Nadal's first and, until 2015, only loss at the French Open. After his surprise defeat
2008 French Open brief match which never allowed him to gain a foothold. Rafael Nadal claimed his fourth consecutive French Open crown, on the final score of 6–1, 6–3, 6–0, and in becoming the 2008 French Open champion equalled Björn Borg's record of four straight Roland-Garros titles, and extended his win-loss record at the tournament to 28–0. Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer, 6–1, 6–3, 6–0 Ana Ivanovic defeated Dinara Safina, 6–4, 6–3 Pablo Cuevas / Luis Horna defeated Daniel Nestor / Nenad Zimonjić, 6–2, 6–3 Anabel Medina Garrigues / Virginia Ruano Pascual defeated Casey Dellacqua / Francesca Schiavone, 2–6, 7–5, 6–4 Victoria Azarenka