0-9. Yes, there were 9 Americans entered in the Men’s main draw at the French this year, and every single one of them lost in the first round. Results for Americans have been pretty pathetic this decade, but now we can say they have definitely hit rock bottom – unless next year 10 or more Americans are entered and they all lose in round 1. The way things are going for Americans on the red clay, it just might happen.

On to the rest of the early French action…there were a few upsets in the early rounds, as is the norm on the red clay of Roland Garros. The biggest was probably Fernando Gonzalez, the # 5 seed, losing to Radek Stepanek. Stepanek was a top 10 player just a year ago, but has had very poor results in 2007, and came into the French with no momentum. But nonetheless, the awkward-looking Czech with the awkward-looking game thumped Gonzo in the 1st round, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Stepanek followed that win with a loss to a French journeyman ranked 144 in the world. Number 10 seed Tomas Berdych was also a 1st round upset victim, falling to Spanish clay-court specialist Guillermo Garcia-Lopez also in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. French hopeful Richard Gasquet was dismissed in the 2nd round, losing to the talented Belgian Kristof Vliegen 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. Gasquet has largely been a disappointment in majors thus far in his young career. The match of the tournament so far, and only half the 2nd round is complete as I write this, was Kohlschreiber/Dlouhy in the 1st round. The # 28 seed Kohlschreiber took out Dlouhy, a qualifier, 17-15 in the 5th set.

Looking ahead, there could be an interesting quarterfinal between Davydenko and Canas to see who plays Federer in the semis, assuming that Canas gets by the very formidable Juan Monaco in an anticipated 4th round matchup. In the lower half of the draw, it looks like Djokovic and Nadal should meet in the semis, unless Ferrer or Baghdatis can derail the 20 year old Serbian.