Roddick Still Without a Top 10 Race Win Since Dumping Gilbert

Both players received treatment from trainers in the fifth set for cramps. For the second consecutive year no American man advanced past the second round at Roland Garros.

"Right now it stings," Roddick said. "I don't think any of us are happy. We all have a lot of pride. It's gotten taken down a lot in the last couple years here."

Seeded winners Thursday were (3) Marat Safin (d. Dlouhy from a set down), (8) Guillermo Coria (d. Djokovic who retired in the third with breathing problems), (9) Guillermo Canas (d. Montanes), (12) Nikolay Davydenko (d. O.Rochus from a set down), (15) Tommy Robredo (d. D.Norman), (21) Tommy Haas (d. Spadea, who retired after two sets with an ab injury), (27) Filippo Volandri (d. Saretta), (28) Nicolas Kiefer (d. Clement in five), and (32) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Hernych).

"He was playing very high balls," said Coria on the qualifier Djokovic who retired with breathing difficulties. "I was a little bit surprised at his speed at the beginning of the match. It's very difficult to play someone you don't know very well. Of course, I knew it was going to be difficult for him to hold out like that for five sets."

Two more upset-minded players on the day were Spain's David Sanchez (d. (19) T.Johansson in five) and Austrian Jurgen Melzer (d. (29) Youzhny).

Winners in all-unseeded play were qualifier Stanislas Wawrinka (d. Blake who blew a 2-0 sets lead), Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. Guccione), Argentina's Mariano Puerta (d. Vliegen), and Russian Igor Andreev (d. Nieminen in four).

Blake led two sets to love before melting down in the almost-90-degree heat.

"I'm feeling a lot more comfortable here," Blake said. "That's a good thing. It's just a matter of making sure my body holds up. Fifteen matches in three weeks on two continents, going from indoors to outdoors to here, and being three out of five in a Grand Slam, it's a lot to do. That could have played into the fact that my legs were gone."

On court Friday on the men's side are (1) Federer vs. (25) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, (4) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. (30) Gasquet, (23) Grosjean vs. (16) Stepanek, (10) Nalbandian vs. (18) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, (14) Moya vs. Vicente in an all-Spanish, (5) Gaudio vs. Mantilla, (20) Ferrer vs. H.-T. Lee, and in the only all-unseeded, Hanescu vs. Luis "Me So" Horna.

"It's obviously going to be a very complicated match," Nadal said on facing Gasquet. "Clearly he's in top shape, and it's going to be his fans out there. It can be positive or negative. It's also pressure, and you've got to overcome that pressure when you're playing in front of your own public."

Top Seeds Breeze Thursday at Roland Garros

Maria Sharapova, looking to achieve the No. 1 ranking for the first time during the fortnight in Roland Garros, led the winners Thursday with a 6-3, 6-2 win over French wildcard Aravane Rezai.

With the humid weather in Paris forecasted to get even hotter, Sharapova, who resides in Florida, says bring it on.

"Yeah, I enjoy the weather," Sharapova said. "I think it's a lot better than when it's cloudy and a little rain like it was in the previous rounds. So this weather is definitely better for all the players, I think."

Other seeded winners into the third round were (3) Amelie Mauresmo (d. (WC) Cornet, bagel in the first), (6) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (Q) Arvidsson), (7) Nadia Petrova (d. Beltrame), (10) Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Ruano Pascual), (12) Elena Bovina (d. Garbin in three), (13) Nathalie Dechy (d. Stosur), (17) Tatiana Golovin (d. Ant. Serra Zanetti 0-and-1), (22) Francesca Schiavone (d. Vaidisova), and (29) Ana Ivanovic (d. Benesova 6-3, 6-1).

After taking a 5-0 lead against Ruano Pascual, Henin-Hardenne asked for a trainer to tend to a nerve problem with her back that she has been suffering with for more than a month.

"I'm going to be fine for the next few days," H-H said. "I just wanted to be sure it wasn't going to be more serious. That's why I asked for the trainer. It was bothering me only on my serve."

Orchestrating upsets on the red dirt Thursday were Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues (d. (24) Maleeva) and American Marissa Irvin (d. (30) Dulko).

Other un-seeds into the third round were Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives (d. Brandi, bagel in the second), German Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Smashnova 1-and-0), Russian Anna Chakvetadze (d. Koukalova), and Israel's Shahar Peer (d. Peschke in three).

Scheduled for Friday for the woman are (14) Clijsters vs. (20) Hantuchova, (9) Zvonareva vs. (21) Pierce, (1) Davenport vs. Razzano, (11) Venus vs. Karatantcheva, (4) Dementieva vs. Morigami, Loit vs. Gagliardi, (8) Schnyder vs. (32) Pennetta, and (16) Likhovtseva vs. (18) Farina Elia.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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