French Open:The United States made history for all the wrong reasons in the French Open at Roland Garros today as it failed to provide a single player in the men's second-round draw for the first time since the beginning of the Open era.
Robby Ginepri's defeat to Argentina's Diego Hartfield ended US participation in the men's singles at Roland Garros at the first hurdle, a scenario that has not occurred since 1968 - the first year of the Open era.
Elsewhere Russia's Marat Safin lost second round tie in straight sets to Janko Tipsarevic. Safin struggled with his own game throughout as he made five double faults and 53 unforced errors. Tipsarevic eventually prevailed 6-4 6-4 7-5 after two hours 39 minutes on Suzanne Lenglen.
Tommy Robredo, the number nine seed from Spain, will meet Tipsarevic in the third round after a comfortable 6-4 7-5 6-4 victory over Konstantinos Economidis.
A claycourt specialist, Robredo was broken three times, but he battled back on each occasion to beat his Greek opponent in straight sets after two hours and 17 minutes.
Men's 10th seed Tomas Berdych also lost in straight sets to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round. The Spaniard won six break points - double that of his higher-ranked Czech opponent, to eventually win 7-5 6-4 6-4 in two hours 10 minutes on Court 6.
There were no such problems for sixth seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia who won in straight sets 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 against Santiago Giraldo of Colombia on Court 3.
Home favourite Richard Gasquet was another casualty on day four after his shock straight-sets defeat to unseeded Kristof Vliegen. The 11th seed failed to find any kind of rhythm in their second-round clash and was brushed aside 7-6 6-3 6-1 by his Belgian opponent to end the host nation's best hope of success at Roland Garros.
Vliegen, ranked 74th in the world, will now face 19th seed Guillermo Canas after his straightforward victory over Italy's Simone Bolelli. The Argentinian wasted no time booking his place in the third round, brushing aside his unseeded opponent 6-4 6-3 6-3.
Fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko cruised through to the third round following a straight sets victory over Austrian Werner Eschauer. The Russian world number four had to work to win the first set 7-5, but out-powered his opponent in the remaining sets 6-3 6-1 to take the victory.
Mikhail Youzhny beat Nicolas Lapentti in straight sets in their second round encounter. The 13th seed was on court just one hour 38 minutes as he eased past Lapentti 6-3 6-0 6-4. The big-serving Russian was too powerful for his opponent, winning 84 per cent of his points on first serve as well as shooting seven aces.
In the women's singles, reigning champion Justine Henin beat Tamira Paszek with little trouble in their second round clash. The number one seed powered her way through to the third round despite having to come off for a rain break when all the momentum was with her at 3-0 in the second.
However, the rain didn't alter the course of the match and Henin ran out a 7-5 6-1 winner.
Number two seed Maria Sharapova was made to work for her 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory against Emilie Loit in the first round.
The double Grand Slam winner from Russia has yet to make it past the quarter-final stage here at Roland Garros, and she suffered some anxiety in booking her second round spot against France's Loit.
However, Sharapova recovered from being a break down in the second set to fight back and record victory on Phillipe Chatrier in one hour and 50 minutes.
Number three seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in contrast cruised into round two earlier in the day. Last year's finalist took just 58 minutes to defeat fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova in straight sets 6-0 6-3.
France's Amelie Mauresmo also sailed through to round two after beating Laura Granville in straight sets. Mauresmo, seeded five, roared to a first set inside 31 minutes without dropping a game.
Granville rallied to her credit to force the second set to a 12th game, but it was all in vain as Mauresmo recorded a 6-0 7-5 victory. Mauresmo will face compatriot ,b>Nathalie Dechy in the next round after she beat Caroline Wozniaki 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-0.
Venus Williams recorded the fastest ever serve by a woman in her second round win over Ashley Harkleroad. Her serve of 128.75 mph almost derailed her concentration, as she was cruising to victory at that point - but it was Harkleroad who was inspired by the feat.
However, Williams rallied to win the second set in a tie-break to go through to the third round 6-1 7-6 (10-8) after one hour and 48 minutes on Court 1.
Williams will face fourth seed Jelena Jankovic in the next round as she beat Catalina Castano in straight sets. The Serbian was on Court 3 one hour 28 minutes as she completed a routine 6-3 6-3 victory.
Dinara Safina lost just one game as she sailed through to the third round after a routine victory over Tzipora Obziler. The 10th seed from Russia blitzed her opponent 6-1 6-0 to win inside 52 minutes in the second round match on Court 16.
Daniela Hantuchova proved too good for Jelena Kostanic Tosic in their first round clash. 12th seed Hantuchova was on Court 16 exactly one hour with Tosic as she breezed through in straight sets 6-3 6-1.
Shahar Peer (15) also took little time in winning, as she beat Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 6-1 6-3 on Court 3. The Australian Open quarter-finalist was on court just 63 minutes as Kanepi struggled in the conditions gifting her 42 points from unforced errors.
On Court 7 Ana Ivanovic, the seventh seed from Serbia, beat Sofia Arvidsson in straight sets 6-2 6-0, while on Court 17 Anna Chakvetadze (9) beat Alicia Molik 6-2 6-3.
Elena Dementieva won a hard-fought second round match with Mathilde Johansson on Court 2. The 13th seed was pushed to a 12th game in both sets she but held her nerve to eventually prevail 7-5 7-5.
Patty Schnyder came from behind to beat Martina Sucha on Court 17. The Swiss number 14 seed lost the first set but battled back for a comfortable victory in the end, running out a 2-6 6-1 6-2 winner inside one hour and 33 minutes. Schnyder will face Katerina Bondarenko in the second round.