Andy Roddick leads a parade of American men stumbling on the clay.
By wire services
Published May 27, 2005
PARIS - For Andy Roddick, it was like a nightmare with sequels as his Argentine opponent kept slamming backhand winners down the line, one after another, until the young American was left with perhaps the most ignominious defeat of his career.
Despondent after once leading Jose Acasuso by two sets and tortured by his inability to master the clay of the French Open, Roddick shuffled off the Suzanne Lenglen Court at 7:51, the light from this sweltering 86-degree Thursday faded along with the hopes of the American men.
Roddick's 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 8-6 loss was the final insult to the United States.
James Blake, the former Harvard All-America now living in Tampa, also failed to turn a two-set lead into victory, losing to Stanislaw Wawrinka, 6-7 (9), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.
And Vince Spadea of Boca Raton had to retire because of a stomach-muscle injury.
So for the second year in a row there are no American men in the third round at Roland Garros and, almost as funereal for U.S. tennis, there are only three American women left: Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Marissa Irvin.
If Irvin had not beaten qualifier Sofia Arvidsson 6-4, 7-5, it would have been the fewest U.S. women in the third round at the French in 32 years.
"I was about as prepared as I've ever been coming in here," Roddick, seeded second, proclaimed as he tried to make sense of this defeat.
"Obviously, I know it's going to be the most challenging surface for my game. It takes away a lot of my strengths and plays into a lot of other guys' strengths."
Still, for two sets and most of the third, Roddick had displayed a beautiful blend of massive power and patient clay-court grinding. He faced only one break point in his first 14 service games, and he disposed of it with a hefty ace down the middle of the ad court.
It all fell apart in the final game of the third set when Acasuso found the range with his backhands down the line and also cranked up his serve, finishing with 20 aces.
With Roddick out of the way in the final quadrant of the draw, No. 9 seed Guillermo Canas' chances of reaching of the semifinals took a leap forward.
In the women's tournament, No. 2 Maria Sharapova had an easy time with French wild card Aravane Reezai 6-3, 6-2 and was joined in the third round by No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 7 Nadia Petrova, No. 10 Justine Henin-Hardenne, No. 12 Elena Bovina and No. 13 Nathalie Dechy.
Roddick reached the third round of the French in 2001, his first full year as a professional, but hasn't gotten out of the second round since, and his performance here no doubt will lend itself to further criticism of the Americans' inability to play well on clay.
Despite the loss, Roddick showed enormous progress, playing against a classic clay-courter. He didn't depend on his massive hitting, as he did a year ago under former coach Brad Gilbert.
Acasuso got the break he needed in the fourth set when, at 3-4, Roddick moved over close to his left sideline in order to kick a serve even wider to Acasuso's backhand.
Wham! Back it came down the line, so fast Roddick had no chance to make a play.
It was the first time Roddick had blown a two-set lead, and that will haunt him. But it was to a player ranked No. 62 from a country where tennis players are born to play on clay.
When the third round begins today there will be six Argentines among the final 32. There won't be one American.
INSTANT REPLAY: Plans to introduce a form of instant replay at this summer's U.S. Open are getting an icy reception in Paris. World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport was first to express her ambivalence. "I think the players have to know that it's 100 percent accurate," Davenport said after her first-round victory. "And unfortunately, with some of the devices that they have now, there is a margin for error, although they don't tell you that on TV."
Roger Federer, the top men's player, was even more critical stance, telling U.S. Open tournament director Jim Curley this week that he's adamantly opposed to any form of electronic line-calling to resolve disputed calls.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE: The old James Blake might have left Roland Garros on Thursday with a smashed racket or two, and he certainly wouldn't have felt "happy" after a second-round defeat. But the 25-year-old American looks at life and tennis differently these days. Last year, he broke his neck and suffered a case of shingles. His father, who inspired him to play tennis, died of cancer. Once ranked No. 22, Blake dropped so low in the rankings he was forced to start from the bottom and prove himself again.
It's enough to put an early exit from the French Open in perspective. "I'm proud I earned my way in and got a first-round win," Blake said.
SELES NOT RETIRING: Sidelined the past two years by a foot injury, Monica Seles still hopes to make a comeback. Her most recent match was in the 2003 French Open, but she said Thursday she wants to wait on retirement.
STILL LEARNING: Martina Navratilova, 48, who has won the most singles titles in tennis history, said she has no plans to quit because she keeps learning. Navratilova lost her first-round doubles match with former French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario at Roland Garros and is scheduled to play in the mixed doubles with Indian partner Leander Paes.
"The hunger comes from being an eternal apprentice of the game," said Navratilova.
