PARIS(AP) There will be no shutout for U.S. men at the French Open this year. Robert Kendrick made sure of it.
Kendrick, of Orlando, Fla., beat Daniel Brands of Germany 6-7 (7), 7-5, 7-6 (11), 4-6, 6-3 in a match that lasted more than 3 1/2 hours Sunday to reach the second round at Roland Garros for the first time.
In his only previous appearance, Kendrick lost in the first round in 2007 - part of an 0-9 showing by American men in Paris that year.
``That was pretty depressing,'' Kendrick said.
Asked what he thinks when he hears talk about U.S. problems on the French Open's red clay, Kendrick said: ``Kind of hate it.''
Kendrick totaled 35 aces in his victory over Brands, a qualifier, and attributed part of his success Sunday to hitting big serves and charging the net, where he won 27 of 41 points. Not exactly the traditional way to play on clay.
``Still going to come in and not stay back there and hit a million balls,'' Kendrick said.
The other two U.S. men in action Sunday lost, with Wayne Odesnik of Weston, Fla., beaten by No. 7 Gilles Simon of France 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, and Sam Querrey of Thousand Oaks, Calif., eliminated by Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-6 (1), 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
U.S. women went 0-2 Sunday: Lauren Embree of Marco Island, Fla., lost to No. 11 Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-2, and Varvara Lepchenko of Allentown, Pa., lost to Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-3, 6-3.
I don't know why the lack of results the last few years from the Americans,'' said Odesnik, who reached the French Open's third round last year.Maybe it's just we don't have that many clay courts in the States, or that many tournaments. There's only one clay court event: ATP Houston. But it doesn't seem that the U.S. is trying to improve that, at least in my opinion.''
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PLEASE DON'T COME: It's still not certain whether Venus and Serena Williams will play for the United States in the Fed Cup final at Italy in November.
Here's the opinion of one of Italy's players: There's no need for the sisters to show up.
``I hope they're not there, honestly,'' Sara Errani said after losing to Ana Ivanovic in the French Open's first round.
``I think they'll come - but with them, you never know,'' Errani added.
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CAN'T CLOSE: Eight times, France's Mathilde Johansson was a point from victory against Vitalia Diatchenko on Sunday in the first round of the French Open.
And eight times, Johansson lost the point. On four of those match points, she double-faulted. In the end, Johansson lost 6-2, 2-6, 10-8.
The more double-faults I make, the more stressed I am, and the more I lose my points. It's kind of a vicious cycle,'' Johansson said.At the moment, I just feel like running away. But we all make mistakes, and this is an experience I'll be able to use at future Grand Slam tournaments.''
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ADIEU, GASTON: Gaston Gaudio entered this year's French Open as one of eight men with Grand Slam titles, and he's the first to go home.
The 2004 champion at Roland Garros was given a wild card into the tournament and lost in the first round Sunday, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 to Radek Stepanek.
It's a failure. Another one,'' Gaudio said.It's normal. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and this time I lost. I don't feel that bad.''
He does own these distinctions, after all:
-Gaudio is the last man other than Rafael Nadal to win the French Open;
-Gaudio and Roger Federer are the only men to own at least two victories over Nadal on clay.
But Gaudio took nearly a year off from tennis, returning in January, and now his ranking has dropped out of the top 300, which is why he needed a wild card from French organizers.
He hasn't won any tournament in four years, let alone come close to achieving what he did at the 2004 French Open.
He'll always have Paris, though.
Many years have gone by,'' Gaudio said.It was a different match, a different venue, different situation, and now I was thinking about something else.''
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AP Sports Writer Chris Lehourites and Associated Press Writer Trung Latieule contributed to this report.