American men making better showing in Paris

Five of the 10 U.S. men in the French Open field won first round matches.

PARIS (AP) — There was plenty of joking among the U.S. men playing in the French Open that they couldn’t help but improve upon the country’s 0-9 showing from 2007 because two Americans were facing each other in the first round.

No one could have assumed there would be this much improvement.

Five of 10 American men in this year’s field won their opening matches — and one of them already moved into the third round Wednesday, when Wayne Odesnik beat Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I guess when I came to this tournament, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be the first American in the third round, but it’s great,” said the 106th-ranked Odesnik, who was born in South Africa and moved to the United States as a toddler. “There’s a few Americans that won their first round. It’s great for American tennis.”

He’ll have a tough task next, taking on No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open champion.

“Right now, I’m not even thinking about that match,” Odesnik said. “I’m just enjoying the moment.”

As well he should. After all, over the previous four French Opens combined, only one man from the United States made it as far as the third round, James Blake in 2006. That’s it.

The No. 7-seeded Blake will try to do it again today, when he plays his second-round match against Ernests Gulbis of Latvia. Also playing today: Mardy Fish against two-time major champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, Robby Ginepri against No. 27 Igor Andreev of Russia, and Bobby Reynolds against Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador.

Several of the Americans have said they’re not trying to adjust their game to clay, instead opting to do what works for them on speedier surfaces.

Odesnik is the rare American who says he likes playing on clay. He got into the French Open with a wild card, awarded to the winner of a mini-tournament run by the U.S. Tennis Association.

“It was on green clay, which isn’t the same as here,” Odesnik said. “But I guess that’s as close as you’re going to get to clay in the States.”