Soderling follows upset of Nadal by beating Davydenko at French to reach 1st major semifinal

Soderling follows Nadal upset by reaching semis

PARIS — Robin Soderling of Sweden has followed his French Open upset of Rafael Nadal by beating Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals.

The 23rd-seeded Soderling won the first five games Tuesday and never was in trouble during a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 victory over the 10th-seeded Davydenko.

Soderling was making his debut in the quarterfinals of a major tournament after ending four-time defending champion Nadal’s record 31-match Roland Garros winning streak. Soderling stunned Nadal in four sets in the fourth round.

Soderling has never won a clay-court tournament. He faces No. 3 Andy Murray or No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez next.

It was Davydenko’s ninth career Grand Slam quarterfinal. He was a French Open semifinalist in 2005 and 2007.