Roddick Ousted in French Open As U.S. Men Suffer Major Losses

May 29, 06:40 PM

Current Headlines: PARIS _ Andy Roddick: Gone in four after winning the opening set against Igor Andreev.

James Blake: Bombed into the loss column by 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic's 22 aces.

Vince Spadea, Bob Kendrick, Sam Querrey, Amer Delic, Justin Gimelstob and Michael Russell: All of them out of the French Open on Tuesday in what will be remembered not only as one of the darkest individual days in U.S. men's tennis history, but the nation's worst Grand Slam performance during the Open Era.

Of the nine men in the main draw, only Robby Ginepri remains, and his first-round match against Diego Hartfield of Argentina was placed in suspension because of failing light with the men tied at one set apiece.

Never have the U.S. men, except in the abbreviated 64-draw at the 1972 Australian Open, had fewer than two men reach the second round of a Slam, which means that even if Ginepri wins Wednesday, American tennis will have plunged to a new low.

The abject American failure was the most significant event on the first fully dry day of the tournament _ a day that saw top three men's favorites Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Guillermo Canas win to reach the second round while No. 4 Jelena Jankovic, one of two favorites on the women's side, needed only 68 minutes to defeat Stephanie Foretz of France.

There was one major upset as Radek Stepanek surprised No. 5 seed Fernando Gonzalez by 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, hitting 29 winners to only seven for the Chilean.

A few of the U.S. losers will play doubles here, but others are probably going home _ not so much to bury their heads over yet another French Open flop as to think about Wimbledon.

"You know, you can either sit back here and cry and hold hands and all that fun stuff, or you can look forward," said Roddick. "You know, looking forward is normally the better option."

This was Roddick's sixth French Open and the third time he was erased in the opening round. Although he was hurt during Davis Cup in April, shortening his clay court preparation, he's working with Jimmy Connors, one of the U.S.' best clay court players and coaches. He expected more and so did most others.

Blake, meanwhile, also had reason to think the second week of the French was not out of the question. A year ago, he scored an important win over excellent Spanish clay-courter Nicolas Almagro. But, as he pointed out, playing Karlovic "is not a normal match."

If there was one bright spot, it was 19-year-old Querrey, who has moved quickly to No. 68 in the rankings. Although he lost to obscure Frenchman Laurent Recouderc, it was the first five-set match of his young pro career and he didn't tire.

There was a time when U.S. men commanded the French Open. Michael Chang won here in 1989, Jim Courier in 1991-92 and was runner-up in 1993. Andre Agassi completed his collection of all four majors by winning the French in 1999.

But all three have retired and no one has picked up for them.

After two days of long rain delays, the French Open scheduled 82 matches (60 men, 22 women) in order to get back on schedule. It was a cool, windy day, but there was no rain and, by 9:35 p.m., when darkness started creeping in, the top half of the women's draw was caught up and all but seven matches were completed by the men.

Key points during Day 3:

_Nadal fell behind 18-year-old Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro, but soon asserted his dominance on clay.

_Jonas Bjorkman, at 35 the oldest player in the draw, came from two sets down to win for only the third time in his 16-year pro career. The victory over wild car Peter Luczak was his sixth straight and 11th in the last 12 five-setters.

_Six players retired with injuries, including Jan Hernych, who quit after just eight minutes with a bad back.

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