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
Federer–Nadal rivalry February played on hard court. This was Federer's first loss of the year and ended his Open era record of 56 consecutive wins on hard courts. The clay season ensued, and Nadal continued his dominance on clay, defeating Federer in the finals of the Monte Carlo Masters, the Rome Masters, and the French Open, in what was their first Grand Slam final. Federer won the first set quickly, but Nadal fought back and took the next three sets to capture his second French Open title. In the Rome final, Federer held two championship points on Nadal's serve at 5–6 in