All the U.S. has left is family

The harrumphing red clay of Roland Garros just about finished weeding out the cushy American empire as usual on Thursday. Anymore, it pretty much likes only one U.S. family.

Having pruned eight of the nine men Tuesday and the other Wednesday, it snubbed the last three American women lacking the surname Williams on Thursday.

If not for one family from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., via Compton, the U.S. would be kaput before the third round when it comes to the noble and proletariat toil of the French Open.

Kaput may have crept closer during the Pacific time zone wee hours of Friday, because Venus Williams had the surname Williams but also had a French-morning date with the woman seeded No. 4 -- Jelena Jankovic, Italian Open champion and budding starlet.

It beckoned as the matchup of the tournament so far, what with Williams having capability exceeding her No. 26 seeding, and Jankovic happening to hail from the hot tennis nation du jour, Serbia, land of 10 million citizens and, somehow, three of them among the top-10 men and top-10 women.

This, despite a relative lack of resources.

“We actually didn’t have enough good conditions and facilities to stay in the country, so I was practicing in Germany,” said Novak Djokovic, ranked No. 6 among the men.

“Ana Ivanovic was practicing in Switzerland. Jelena Jankovic was in the States. So everybody was going somewhere else and following their way.

“And it just happened accidentally that we got this.”

Meantime, the world leader among national resources did have Serena Williams cracking the impenetrable third round on Thursday with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-3) win over Venezuelan Milagros Sequera, whereupon Williams called the match “weird” and said, “I’m really used to the clay; I was just kind of a little bit everywhere today.”

She gallivanted into a Friday match and, told that her third-round opponent, Michaella Krajicek, 18, idolized her as a child, said, “That’s so sweet. I know the feeling because I loved Monica Seles, so whenever I got a chance to play her, I was just still really excited. And you know, winning against her was like the ultimate goal. Every time was just so cool.”

Thereafter, Williams stood in her hot-pink flip-flops before a TV crew and said of the French Open, “We have a great relationship, me and this tournament. We’re like old lovers.”

Love elsewhere had figured mostly in scores, although 29-year-old Granada High graduate Meilen Tu further flattered her long career with a strong showing in a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 second-round loss to Ai Sugiyama of Japan.

Meghann Shaughnessy led 2006 finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-0 in the first set but lost, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. Jill Craybas of Huntington Beach drew Maria Sharapova and went out, 6-2, 6-1, in 64 minutes, a matter so breezy that the Russian spent the aftermath supplying details on her recent break from the game.

“The cooking is awful,” she said. “It’s completely awful. I always call my friends over to help me, yeah. I’m not very patient, and I can’t wait for things to boil and to fry and to make sure it’s not red and all of that.”

By the time she perhaps ordered room service, two Americans remained in the women’s final 32, both from one family, along with six Russians, four Italians, three French, two Serbs and two Czechs, among grinding others.

Remaining also would be the spate of diagnoses about why the red clay disdains Americans, with Tu having observed the men’s washout and saying, “I don’t know if it’s because they’re not willing to grind for the points. I don’t know if they’re trying to finish the point too quickly.”

In the slow and taxing clay of Roland Garros, she said, “You have to think the ball’s always going to come back.”

“Yeah, I was like just talking to [Andy] Roddick outside,” Ashley Harkleroad said Wednesday after losing to Venus Williams. “I was like, ‘I thought that Jimmy Connors was going to teach you how to play on clay or something.’ But he said no.... We weren’t really brought up on a clay court, I guess. And this isn’t our good swing of tournaments here on clay.”

At least Tu had a moment at this French, last Saturday when she practiced on courts alongside the Williamses and her coach told her those were the top three American women on those three courts. “I’m No. 3?” she said. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, you are.’ ”

When Tu, 29 and ranked 39th, played Sugiyama, 31 and ranked 21st, it was their third meeting but their first in eight years, a marker of their longevity.

Now they’re sages in a world that never seems to stop churning out youth from hungry countries who will always grind for the point.

“You look at them,” Tu said, “and they still have braces on their teeth, and they talk about what language they’re taking in school.”

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French Open

Highlights from Day 5:

* Rough going: Continuing a trend, three pairs of U.S. men opened doubles play and all lost. Sam Querrey and Michael Russell lost to Martin Garcia and Sebastian Prieto, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Justin Gimelstob and Robert Kendrick fell to Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa, 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4; and Robby Ginepri and Scott Lipsky were beaten by Chris Haggard and Lee Hyung-taik, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

* Today’s top matches: Serena Williams (8) vs. Michaella Krajicek, Netherlands; Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, vs. Potito Starace, Italy; Jelena Jankovia (4), Serbia, vs. Venus Williams (26).

Los Angeles Times