U.S. Players Supply Theater on the Clay

Drama, thy name is American tennis.

Here’s a synopsis of a tumultuous Day 1 at the French Open on Monday:

* Second-seeded Andy Roddick, apparently suffering from a flu-like virus, was given fluids intravenously before his first-round match against Todd Martin. He defeated Martin, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-5, then heard some angry words from Martin afterward because of an incident in the eighth game of the third set.

* Vince Spadea overcame a pro-French crowd on an obscure outside court and saved nine match points against Florent Serra of France. He rallied from a 1-5 fifth-set deficit, winning, 7-5, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 9-7, in 4 hours 32 minutes.

“Obviously the crowd wasn’t really interested in me winning the match, so I sort of took it as an additional opponent to try to prove something,” Spadea said. “But it was two against one ...

“On top of that, we’re out here on a practice court at 11 a.m. on Monday. I’ll be the first one out of the tournament, and people will think I’ve just finished practicing. It’s going to be a hard explanation to even my dad or any kind of innocent bystander.”

* Lisa Raymond rallied from a 0-6, 0-5 deficit against Lubomira Kurhajcova of Slovakia and won, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3. It was only her second singles victory at Roland Garros in the last four years.

Roddick’s breakthrough of sorts -- his first victory in this event since 2001 -- was in jeopardy on Sunday night. His coach, Brad Gilbert, said Roddick became sick about 10 p.m. and could not keep anything down, adding, “He wasn’t sure if he was going to play.” He pushed forward, looking ill, but his serve appeared strong and he hit 14 aces.

Roddick joked about his pale appearance, telling a British reporter, “I’m just waiting to fit in when I get ito England next week.”

Roddick was less jocular about Martin’s heated words at the end of the match. Earlier, Martin had stopped play and questioned a line call after returning a shot he thought had landed out. The overrule went in Martin’s favor, and Roddick took issue, noting that Martin had continued the point rather than stopping play immediately.

The French crowd got on Roddick, as it often does when a player argues with the chair umpire, and Martin let his countryman have it on the court after the match. But Martin, the usually calm elder statesman, was rueful.

“For lack of a better phrase, I made a royal you-know-what out of myself,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s a possibility that could reflect poorly on Andy, and that’s my fault.”

They talked over the issue later.

“It was just a misunderstanding,” Roddick said. “ ... It’s not a big deal.”

Said Martin: “His argument was with the umpire. While we were playing, I did a good job of leaving it between him and the umpire. He didn’t understand the rule, and I believe him. Again, it’s my mistake. But I was upset at the time because I feel I’ve earned Andy’s respect.”