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New breed of US men fail to make a splash in French Open
Paris, May 30: The hype regarding American men`s tennis failed to translate in the French Open.
Paris, May 30: The hype regarding American men's tennis failed to translate in the French Open.
A group of highly touted US youngsters fared poorly at Roland Garros, leaving just two Americans in the third round: Andre Agassi, 33, and Vince Spadea, 28.
By contrast, nine US women reached the third round, including top-seeded defending champion Serena Williams.
Among the 11 American men already eliminated are sixth-seeded Andy Roddick, no. 24 James Blake, Mardy Fish, Taylor Dent and Brian Vahaly, all 23 or younger. Blake lost in the second round, the others in the first round.
The five youngsters have all improved their rankings since the start of the year, and all expected to do better at Roland Garros.
"We're all struggling right now," said Blake, who lost yesterday. "At least we went through it together."
US men have a long history of faring poorly in the French Open. They went from 1955 (Tony Trabert) to 1989 (Michael Chang) without a champion. The American touted by many as the greatest player ever, Pete Sampras, never even reached a French final.
The problem, Blake said, is that Americans don't grow up playing on clay, while many Europeans and South Americans do.
"We're supposedly world-class athletes," he said. "Even world-class athletes can't adjust in one week or two weeks to something the other guys have been doing for their whole life. That makes it difficult."
Bureau Report
A group of highly touted US youngsters fared poorly at Roland Garros, leaving just two Americans in the third round: Andre Agassi, 33, and Vince Spadea, 28.
By contrast, nine US women reached the third round, including top-seeded defending champion Serena Williams.
Among the 11 American men already eliminated are sixth-seeded Andy Roddick, no. 24 James Blake, Mardy Fish, Taylor Dent and Brian Vahaly, all 23 or younger. Blake lost in the second round, the others in the first round.
The five youngsters have all improved their rankings since the start of the year, and all expected to do better at Roland Garros.
"We're all struggling right now," said Blake, who lost yesterday. "At least we went through it together."
US men have a long history of faring poorly in the French Open. They went from 1955 (Tony Trabert) to 1989 (Michael Chang) without a champion. The American touted by many as the greatest player ever, Pete Sampras, never even reached a French final.
The problem, Blake said, is that Americans don't grow up playing on clay, while many Europeans and South Americans do.
"We're supposedly world-class athletes," he said. "Even world-class athletes can't adjust in one week or two weeks to something the other guys have been doing for their whole life. That makes it difficult."
Bureau Report