Andy Roddick’s win a real feat on clay

The winners on Monday included No. 1 Dinara Safina in two bagel sets, No. 3 Venus Williams in three tough ones, No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Roger Federer in six straight sets on the main Court Philippe Chatrier and, for fun, some American guy named Roddick over on some haunted-house court.

This pup Roddick, seldom seen for more than cameos at French Opens, made some brows furrow.

Apparently, though, he turned out to be Andy Roddick, newly married, newly coached by Larry Stefanki and newly into a French Open second round for the first time since 2005.

“I’m just glad I finally won a match out there,” Roddick said of Court Suzanne Lenglen, the site of both his past clay horrors and his 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 success Monday against the 305th-ranked French wild-card entry Romain Jouan.

While bemoaning that he often reads and hears about Americans flopping on clay but never reads and hears about European clay-court specialists flopping on other courts -- hint: those discussions may occur in foreign languages -- the world’s No. 6 player expertly explained the clay issues that have meant just one third round in seven previous French tries.

Clay “makes my serve a little bit more neutral,” Roddick said. “Puts me from a pretty good mover for my size to an average mover. My backhand, the trajectory is a little bit flatter. Those are all things that have to be dealt with on a point-to-point basis. You’re trying to manage your way through that.”

Even with such snags, though, here was a case where the winner felt elated to get through and the loser felt elated to take the court with the winner. While Roddick struggled to find useful information on Jouan, 23, Jouan worried about spending the first Grand Slam match of his life looking “ridiculous.”

He didn’t, much to his relief, and said of Roddick, “He told my father in the locker room that I was a good player. That was nice. I think it’s very nice of him. I’m not sure he really believes that, but it was nice.”

Today’s featured matches

World rankings in parentheses.

Serena Williams (2) vs. Klara Zakopalova (100), Czech Republic: The records show that Williams hasn’t been to a final here in seven years or to a semifinal in six. Even given the clay and everything, don’t some statistics just look erroneous?

James Blake (16) vs. Leonardo Mayer (93), Argentina: If Blake loses, he might repeat his tiresomely cliched 2008 refrain about people criticizing American players without having played in French Opens themselves. Oh please, just let him win.

Novak Djokovic (4), Serbia, vs. Nicolas Lapentti (102), Ecuador: As perhaps the biggest threat here other than Nadal, Djokovic remains the only man other than Nadal and Federer to win any of the last 16 Grand Slams. Clearly his 2008 Australian Open title was so Herculean that it should’ve counted twice.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (9), France, vs. Julien Benneteau (52), France: With the compelling Tsonga against another fine Frenchman, this might achieve the humanly improbable. It might get the French fans to actually finish lunch and walk out and sit in their seats and, you know, watch.

Always-endangered American males

Our tired, overmatched, huddled mass of a nation has performed gallantly against the clay giants, claiming two wins against four losses with three players still to start (bravely), more than we expect of a Lilliput. Yet it’s harsh losing Robby Ginepri, who gamely made the fourth round last year but whose three-set loss to Spain’s Pablo Andujar on Monday reiterated that there’s always some insanely patient European waiting to foil you.

Quote of the day

“I’m definitely a third-set player. Once I get in the third set, I’m like, you know, I feel a new level coming.” -- Venus Williams, who looked masterful in the third set of a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win over gritty, 45th-ranked Bethanie Mattek-Sands, the No. 3 American woman.

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chuck.culpepper@yahoo.com