FRENCH OPEN Roddick is last American to fall

Andy Roddick squandered leads twice and fell to Frenchmen Olivier Mutis.
PARIS (AP) -- Less than halfway through the second round, Andy Roddick found himself the lone remaining American in the men's draw at the French Open.
Then a Frenchman sent Roddick home, too.
Indecisive and impatient on his worst surface, the No. 2-seeded Roddick twice squandered leads Wednesday and lost to Frenchman Olivier Mutis 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2.
Roddick's record in the past three years on the Roland Garros clay fell to 1-3.
"It's a challenge for me," he said. "That's no secret. But I'm going to keep plugging away. That's all I can do."
U.S. players struggled
The French Open has long brought out the worst in U.S. men, including Pete Sampras, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, none of whom won the tournament. The 10 American men entered this year went 2-10, including a first-round loss by 1999 champion Andre Agassi.
Five defeats came against Frenchmen, with No. 27-seeded Vince Spadea eliminated 2 1/2 hours before Roddick, losing to qualifier Julien Jeanpierre 6-4, 6-2, 7-5.
"This hasn't been our place for a couple of years now," Roddick said. "That's just the challenge. You try to right the ship."
In the Open era, the only other major events where no U.S. men made it to the third round were the 1972 and 1973 Australian Opens, which no American entered.
Defending champ is out
Roddick wasn't the lone upset victim: Justine Henin-Hardenne made the earliest exit by a defending women's champion. Ranked No. 1 but still recovering from a viral ailment, she lost to Tathiana Garbin 7-5, 6-4.
"Life continues," she said. "It's a bad day. Tomorrow is going to be better."
The kind of conditions that can make Paris a challenge -- cool, damp evening weather -- cost Roddick some of his power against Mutis. The reigning U.S. Open champion hit 15 aces, but lost his serve nine times.
And an erratic effort showed he's still learning how to play on clay.
Roddick managed an early service break in the fourth set, but was unable to hold the lead. He blew an easy volley to lose serve in the opening game of the final set, then began to play too aggressively.
"Maybe I started pressing a little bit," Roddick said.
He became increasingly dispirited as his mistakes mounted, failed to chase some shots and fell behind 5-0.
"I was waffling," Roddick acknowledged. "I wasn't decisive enough. I wasn't sticking with things I wanted to do."
Santoro is billed
Mutis will next play compatriot Fabrice Santoro, who was relieved to have today off after playing each of the first three days -- a combined 113 games lasting nearly 10 hours. Santoro won the longest match of the Open era in the opening round, then endured another marathon and beat Irakli Labadze 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Henin-Hardenne's match was just her second following a six-week layoff. She was sidelined April 10 by an illness that left her dizzy and tired, and she decided just last week she was healthy enough to play in Paris.
With Henin-Hardenne eliminated, No. 3 Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo and No. 5 Lindsay Davenport become the highest-seeded players in their half of the draw. Mauresmo beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, and Davenport beat Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-4, 6-1.