Americans Speculate on Roddick Clay Game

Mary Pierce is reportedly over her foot injury, but is now hoping to recover from an adductor muscle malady in time for the French...Neither No. 1 seeds entering this year's French Open have won the title...From RolandGarros.com: "The rule regarding lucky losers in Grand Slam tournaments has changed this year. Previously, should a player in the tournament itself declare forfeit after the start of the qualifiers, the highest-ranked loser in the last qualifying round automatically got through. From now on, however, once the qualifiers have been completed, there will be a draw among the four highest-ranked losers of the final qualifying round to define the order in which lucky losers will replace those dropping out, should more than one player declare forfeit. If there are more than four forfeits, then the fifth-highest ranked player will go through, as was the case in the past."...From Guillaume Baraise writing for RolandGarros.com: "Andy Roddick seems to have lost all his confidence this year, and while he lacks nothing in determination, his game is simply not suited to clay -- ditto Taylor Dent, Robby Ginepri and Mardy Fish, even if the latter did win on Houston's red clay. James Blake has perhaps the best technique and the necessary character, but his performances on clay have flattered to deceive up until now." -- Yet Roddick has won three clay titles and beat Guillermo Coria on clay -- discuss...Roger Federer has been hitting around on the Roland Garros courts since Tuesday...Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives has injured her wrist and is out of the French, as is Russian Elena Bovina with her chronic shoulder injury...Roger Federer was honored with the French Sporting Academy 2005 Grand Prix on Wednesday night. The award ceremony was held in the Hotel de Lassay -- part of the French National Assembly building -- and presented by the Assembly's President Jean-Louis Debre. Last year's recipient was American Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France...Roland Garros was an aviation pioneer who in 1913 became the first man to fly a plane over the Mediterranean. That's some education for free...A Frenchman hasn't won the French Open since Yannick Noah in 1983, and it sure as hell won't happen this year between the overcooked (Grosjean, Clement), the choker (Mathieu), and the undercooked (Gasquet, Monfils) among the current crop of French players...Linda Pearce writing Wednesday for the Melbourne Age: "Growing doubt surrounds Lleyton Hewitt's availability for next week's French Open, with an MRI scan confirming the world No. 14 had "a severe over-expansion" of the outer ligament of the right ankle from his first-round loss in the ATP tournament in Poertschach, Austria, on Monday. The injury is notoriously painful, and yesterday's diagnosis, by a private hospital in Villach, adds to the uncertainty over Hewitt's fitness ahead of tomorrow's draw at Roland Garros. The former No. 1 has played one match on clay in two years, and has made no secret of the fact his major focus this European summer is Wimbledon, where he won the title in 2002. Hewitt missed last year's French Open with a rib injury."...Patrick McEnroe on how Andy Roddick can improve on clay: "I think a key for him is first of all I would like to see him use his serve better. I think he tries to win too many points with the ace whereas he's got a very nasty kick serve. I'd like to see him use that (kick serve) more on the first serve, vary that and set up his forehand. Number two, I'd like to see him get up on the baseline anytime he gets the chance. Those are two things I think he can do. He likes to stand pretty far back when he's returning. He's not the kind of player with his physique and strengths who is going to outlast guys. You're not going to be able to serve through people on clay. I mean, great servers can hit 15 aces over the course of a five-set matches, but these guys are too good to just serve through them on clay."...Mardy Fish on Andy Roddick on the clay, speaking with ESPN: "I think Andy has gotten into [the] mold of staying back and grinding. Being No. 5 in world, he needs to be as aggressive on clay as he is at Wimbledon. He hasn't gone on past third round and he's definitely got the game. These guys that grew up on clay, they just know how to move. They just seem to glide. Their games are structured around it. It doesn't mean we can't beat them; Tim Henman, if he can make the [2004] semis in Paris, so can Andy. Tim came to net a lot and beat some really good players. We're not going to beat them standing back there."...James Blake speaking with SI.com on his pre-match ritual: "The main thing is having five or 10 minutes on my own with my iPod, sitting in a corner or walking around the locker room and really thinking about the match ahead and not talking to anyone else. I used to always listen to rap and hard-core stuff like Metallica to get me fired up. Now, the stuff I listen to is to calm me down: Gavin DeGraw or John Mayer or Dave Matthews."