Last U.S. Male Fails to Deliver

PARIS — The Lost Americans in Paris, Part II.

Or it may seem like Part 22 the way things have been going for American men at the French Open lately.

For the second consecutive year, no American male has advanced to the third round. Last year was the first time it had happened in the Open era of tennis. How quickly an aberration can turn into a trend.

Andy Roddick, seeded No. 2, was the last American man standing here this year. It was Thursday evening by the time he stepped over the net and trudged across the court to congratulate Jose Acasuso of Argentina, who had flopped on his back after the final point of his 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 8-6 victory, a match that spanned 3 hours 21 minutes.

Flop could describe Roddick’s performances in major matches this year. But his latest was unlike his odd meltdown at the Australian Open against Lleyton Hewitt or his Davis Cup loss to Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

Against Acasuso, Roddick took the first two sets, allowing only one break point. And even after letting his opponent back in the match, he held a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

Roddick, who has advanced past the second round just once here, was frustrated at yet another French shortcoming. He also lost in the second round last year.

“I hate it. I mean, it’s terrible,” he said. “That pretty much sums it up. I want to do well here so badly. Just hasn’t happened. Especially losing matches like this, it doesn’t help.”

Roddick wasn’t the only American to blow a two-set lead in the second round. Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beat James Blake, 6-7 (9), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4, in 3 hours 45 minutes. Blake was cramping and needed treatment on a warm day. The other American in action, Vince Spadea, also had a painful outing. Spadea retired because of a strained stomach muscle after losing the first two sets, 6-3, 6-4, against Tommy Haas of Germany.

Spadea said he was injured on match point of his first-round singles match and couldn’t serve with his normal pace in his doubles match Wednesday. It got progressively worse against Haas.

“I was in very extreme pain out there,” Spadea said. “I don’t ever play with pain like that.”

Blake may have simply hit empty in his gas tank. He had to qualify for the French Open and earlier played challenger events, taking a 14-match win streak into the second round.

“But I don’t know if my body is the right type to hold up for five sets,” Blake said. “You watch a guy like Guillermo Canas, I just can’t fathom the kind of stuff he does.”

Roddick didn’t hold up well, either; the trainer worked on his calves in the fifth set. But it shouldn’t have reached that stage. Roddick was moving through the match with relative ease until Acasuso broke him to win the third set, creating a momentum shift.

“He started changing it up,” Roddick said. “He pretty much started going for broke on a lot of shots, especially his backhand down the line, even off high balls. He started making them. He started serving a lot better.”

Acasuso had more aces, 20 to 13, a telling statistic. Even by the most generous assessments, Acasuso is not among the top tier of Argentine clay-court players.

Six Argentine players remain in the draw, including defending champion Gaston Gaudio. The last American to win in Paris was Andre Agassi in 1999. Since then, the best American showings have been quarterfinals by Agassi in 2002 and 2003.

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Three American women are still alive -- Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Marissa Irvin.

Irvin, of Santa Monica, defeated Gisela Dulko of Argentina, 6-4, 7-5, in the second round, playing a well-crafted game of power and patience.

Irvin will play No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia on Saturday. This equals Irvin’s best performance in a Grand Slam event. She reached the third round here the last two years. Davenport and Williams play their third-round matches today.