PARIS(AP) Warm, dry weather has made the French Open clay harder and quicker than usual, giving U.S. men a shot at their best Roland Garros in several years.
Even Taylor Dent won Monday. It was the first French Open victory for the 12th-year pro.
``Better late than never, right?'' he said.
No. 17-seeded John Isner also reached the second round for the first time, and Mardy Fish won a five-setter in Monday's last match, giving U.S. men a 3-4 record so far. At least one more is sure to get through, too.
On Tuesday, No. 18 Sam Querrey - who's 11-6 on clay this year - takes on Robby Ginepri in an all-American matchup. No. 6 Andy Roddick, who reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time in 2009, faces Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, and Michael Russell also plays Tuesday.
U.S. men already are assured of an improvement on last year, when they went 2-7 in the first round. Only four Americans have reached the men's third round since 2006.
While the French Open has been the Americans' worst major tournament of late, Dent said it's wrong to think they don't care about Roland Garros.
It is a Grand Slam,'' Dent said.We love coming over here and playing. There's no doubt about it, and there's nothing more that Americans love than to come over here and win matches. We always have that label, like, 'Oh, you're American. First round, see you later.' So I think we get a lot of pride from winning matches here.''
The 29-year-old Dent, playing the tournament for only the third time, is a former top-25 player who hits a heavy slice backhand and charges the net at every opportunity. He found the conditions to his liking as he beat Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
It's almost like a hard court out there,'' he said.If it's fast, it's ideal for the Americans, more so than any other type of players out here.''
Dent next plays 2009 runner-up Robin Soderling of Sweden.
Isner defeated Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, and Fish beat Michael Berrer of Germany 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Americans Michael Yani, Rajeev Ram and Jesse Witten lost Monday. Ryan Sweeting was beaten Sunday.
Yani, a qualifier, lost a 71-game match that equaled the longest at the tournament since the tiebreaker was introduced in 1973. Lukas Lacko of Slovakia overcame three match points in the final set and beat Yani 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 12-10.
Ram lost to Yuri Schukin of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Witten, a qualifier, was beaten by No. 25 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
U.S. women have fared better lately in Paris, although it has been eight years since their most recent French Open championship, won by Serena Williams. She began her bid for a 13th Grand Slam title by defeating Stefanie Voegele, and Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Ga., lost to Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-5, 6-2.
SERENA ON TWEETING: Serena Williams says tweeting helps her connect with her fans and keep tabs on her favorite rock band.
I follow Green Day on Twitter, and whenever they tweet, I get incredibly excited,'' Williams said after winning her first-round match Monday at the French Open.I'm like, 'Oh, my God.' I'm so happy. I really like to know what's going on in their lives.''
Williams' Twitter feed was quiet in the hours before and after her first-round victory over Stefanie Voegele, but she often tweets several times a day.
One sample dispatch Saturday: ``I am shooting Harpers Bazaar spread in Paris... Does it get any better than this?????XxxS''
Williams said she enjoys seeing the reaction to her tweets and keeps up with current events on Twitter.
Sometimes I just tweet what's on my mind and sometimes maybe a little too much,'' she said.For those people that like me half as much as I like them, I like to keep them in the loop with my life.''
MURRAY'S KNEE: Andy Murray's right knee has bothered him for years, so he wasn't about to allow the pain he was feeling to slow him during a five-set struggle against Richard Gasquet in the French Open's first round Monday, when the temperature reached the 80s.
A four-hour match probably wasn't the best thing for it when it's been sore the last few days,'' the fourth-seeded Murray said.Everyone has their problems. Everyone has different issues. It's very hard in an individual sport, especially one like this, you know, to play four-hour matches, five-set matches in that heat. I mean, it was ... very hot today.''
The runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Open and 2010 Australian Open came back from two sets down to beat Gasquet 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.
My knee hurts. But ... I just got to try and manage it. It hurts at different parts of the year, you know. I can't do anything about it. It's just something I was born with, and just going to have to deal with for my whole career,'' the 23-year-old Murray said.It's a lot worse than people think.''
He said the problem is ``pretty much tendinitis.''
NO DOUBTS: Ana Ivanovic is sure she will be back among the best in tennis one day.
She can only hope her rise will be as swift as her fall.
Only two years ago, she left the French Open as a Grand Slam champion and ranked No. 1. Through a series of injuries and coaching changes, she now finds herself 42nd in the rankings and without so much as one quarterfinal appearance in the seven major tournaments since.
Asked to describe the last 18 months or so, Ivanovic said: ``Not fun at all. Lots of tears and lots of hard times and lots of doubts and fears.''
She won her first match at this year's French Open on Monday, eliminating Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan 6-3, 6-3.
I have no doubt about it: I really feel I belong to the top, and I can get back to the top,'' she said.It's just the little steps and trusting myself when I'm out there.''
AP Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich contributed to this report.