The United States men suffered their worst Grand Slam showing on Wednesday when outsider Olivier Mutis dumped second seed Andy Roddick out of the French Open in their second-round tie.
Roddick’s 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-2 defeat to world 125th-ranked Mutis follows that of former champion Andre Agassi, the American losing in the first round to French qualifier Jerome Haehnal on Monday.
Fellow American Vincent Spadea, the 27th seed, also fell to a French opponent.
The defeats leave the US without a player in the men’s singles at this stage of the tournament for the first time ever.
But while the mighty Americans are without a male challenger out of the 10 who entered, hosts France have had one of their most successful days ever with five men already in the third round.
”This hasn’t been our place for a couple of years now. But that’s just the challenge,” said US Open champion Roddick, who had lost in the first round on his previous two visits to Roland Garros.
”I have no choice but to look forward to much improvement. You know a round this year, maybe two next year.”
Mutis, who lost on clay to the American in Houston last year, said that French players automatically raised the level of their game for their home tournament.
”When a French player arrives in Roland Garros, you forget everthing you’ve done before,” said the 26-year-old, who has never won a title.
After saving nine match points to get past a French qualifier in the first round, Spadea was toppled by another French qualifier, Julien Jeanpierre, who scored a straightforward 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 victory.
But Haehnel’s moment in the sun was short-lived when he went down in four sets to fellow Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Showing his ease on the red clay of the Philippe Chatrier centre court, Fabrice Santoro showed no ill effects of his historic six-hour-33-minute opening-round match when he defeated Georgia’s Irakli Labadze 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 in their second-round match in three hours and 22 minutes.
Nicolas Escude booked his spot in the third round when he defeated Germany’s Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Davis Cup stalwart Escude put their success down to increased training on clay in the weeks before the tournament.
”We had very good preparation. We have a large group of French players. We are losing day after day so I decided to fight against that. I prepared a lot before,” added Escude, who has matched his third-round appearance in 1997.
”I think Roland Garros is very important for a French player whether you like the surface or not. You want to be here,” he added. — Sapa-AFP