Historic low for American men

IT was a day to forget for the United States at the French Open yesterday, with their nine-strong contingent of men’s singles players making history for the wrong reasons.

Robby Ginepri’s first-round defeat to Argentina’s Diego Hartfield meant the US failed to provide a single player in the men’s second-round draw at Roland Garros for the first time since the beginning of the Open era in 1968.

They had came into the tournament boasting two top-10 players — third-seed Andy Roddick and eighth-seed James Blake — but they both perished yesterday at the hands Igor Andreev and Ivo Karlovic, respectively.