Paris, May 31

Rafael Nadal’s unbeaten run at the French Open is over.

The four-time defending champion lost to Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (2) today in the fourth round, ending his record 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros. Soderling, seeded 23rd at this year’s tournament, ran Nadal ragged on center court with his hard serve and booming forehand.

Nadal has dominated the French Open since his first match on the red clay at Roland Garros. In his 31 previous matches, he had lost only seven sets — the last one coming against Roger Federer in the 2007 final.

Defending women’s champion Ana Ivanovic also lost today, while top-seeded Dinara Safina advanced to the quarter-finals with another easy win. Also on the men’s side, No 3 Andy Murray of Britain and No 12 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile made the quarter-finals.

The last time two defending champions lost in the same round at a Grand Slam tournament was in 2004 when both Justine Henin and Juan Carlos Ferrero lost in the second round of the French Open.

Nadal had won three of the last four major titles, missing out only on the US Open. After winning the Australian Open, he had a chance to complete a Grand Slam this year. He was also trying to become the first man to win five straight French Open titles. Instead, the draw has completely opened up for three-time finalist Roger Federer. The former No 1 needs only to win the French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam.

The eighth-seeded Ivanovic did little right on Court Suzanne Lenglen, converting only two of five break points and making 20 unforced errors in her 6-2, 6-3 loss to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Ivanovic won her only Grand Slam tournament title at last year’s French Open. The 19-year-old Azarenka lost in the fourth round at Roland Garros last year, and will next be playing in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

Safina had a much easier time on center court, advancing to the quarter-finals by conceding only one game in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Aravane Rezai of France. The top-seeded Russian won 11 straight games to close out the match. She has lost only five games through four rounds at Roland Garros, and has won four of the eight sets she has played at love. Dominika Cibulkova advanced by beating Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-2, 6-4 in a sloppy match that had a combined 17 winners and 66 unforced errors.

On the men’s side, Gonzalez became the first player to reach the quarter-finals, beating Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, and Murray soon followed with a 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-1 win over No. 13 Marin Cilic of Croatia.