The Worst American Performance at the French Open in at least 30 years
Everything started with a very tough draw for Michael Russell, ranked 67th, who had to face Roger Federer. Russell of course didn’t have a chance but did put up a good fight losing 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Next to go out was Justin Gimelstob who played an experienced clay courter Nicolas Almagro and lost in straight sets too.
Amer Delic was also unlucky with the draw since he played a former world nr.1 and French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.
All these 3 defeats were not as shocking as the next two: Andy Roddick and James Blake.
Andy had a good preparatory period before the French Open, playing lots of matches on clay courts and getting used to grinding it out. But Igor Andreev was too tough in the first round. Andy lost 3:1 in sets after winning the first set.
“I’ve had some disappointing losses here, but I actually felt like I played okay today, considering, you know. So, you know, I think a lot of the credit has to go to him, you know. I think this is a little bit different than the other years. I felt like I hit the ball all right.” (from Andy’s interview)
So Andy thought that he played a good match and he did actually, it’s just that Andreev is an excellent player who felt that he had nothing to lose and went for it.
And that’s always tough on top players since they feel the pressure of losing.
How about James Blake?
He faced the giant Ivo Karlovic who is known for his thundering serve but at least I expected James to be able to outplay, outmaneuver and out-move (if there is such a word) Ivo.
James lost 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 and what’s really interesting is that his match statistics were really good:
63% of first serves, only 12 unforced errors (that’s only 3 per set!), 27 winners and 28 out of 45 points won at the net. (62%)
So why did James Blake lose?
In my opinion he played too defensively hoping for Ivo Karlovic to start making mistakes and maybe get tired. Ivo did not fall into this trap today. He served 22 aces, had 53 winners (including service winners) and won 41 out of 70 approaches to the net.
James was simply beaten today. Kudos to Karlovic.
Who else lost today?
Robert Kendrick, Sam Querrey and Vince Spadea were also sent packing.
There is only one more American in the draw, Robby Ginepri and his match was suspended at 2 sets all because of fading light.
Why do Americans find it so hard to play well on clay courts?
Here are my personal views:
1. They were all “raised” on hard courts where the movement is different, the tactical and mental approach is different and the matches are typically shorter.
2. They don’t think much of the red clay. They seem to find it a “necessary evil” and play with some sort of resistance and not being mentally comfortable on it.
3. They come from America, where things happen really fast. 
Fast food, fast internet, fast cable tv, fast cars and fast chicks, especially for big stars like these guys are. Clay court tennis is all about patience and taking a long term approach.
This is contrary to the whole American culture.
4. They don’t seriously prepare for the French Open. Maybe in their point of view but I wonder if they would be able to endure the practices that Rafael Nadal goes through months before the French.
5. They are not really motivated since none of them believes they can win. All these guys - Roddick, Blake, Ginepri and others are winning types of personalities. They are not interested in quarter finals. They are also not motivated by prize money since they have enough of it.
They are mostly motivated by winning and when they fell they cannot win, they won’t put in 100% of effort. That’s of course enough to be beaten by top 100 players in the world since the differences are very small.
Andy Roddick and James Blake are top 10 players in the world ONLY if they give 100%. They can use their superior talent to get a point here and there which not so talented players cannot make.
So lets cheer for Ginepri tomorrow and hope for future champions to make an impression at the dreaded red clay…
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