Soderling content with mission impossible

By Julien Pretot

PARIS (Reuters) - Robin Soderling was simply content to have achieved the impossible at the French Open following his straight-sets defeat by Roger Federer in Sunday's final.

The Swede, who lost 6-1 7-6 6-4 to Federer, was the man to beat four-times champion Rafael Nadal for the first time at Roland Garros.

Soderling, seeded 23rd, sent shockwaves through the tennis world when he eliminated the Spanish world number one in four sets in the fourth round.

"Of course, beating Nadal was very nice for me," he told a news conference on Sunday.

"I think I made what was supposed to be impossible, beat him on clay in best of five, no one else had ever made it."

Relying on his big serve and devastating forehand, Soderling knocked out Nadal 6-2 6-7 6-4 7-6 in possibly the greatest shock ever at Roland Garros.

But the 24-year-old Swede could simply not live with Federer.

"I think the match was what I expected, I played him so many times," said Soderling, who now has lost 10 times to the world number two.