John Isner, Taylor Dent Power Into French Open Second Round

Roland Garros ATP - Official Site - Order of Play - Singles Draw - Qualifiers Draw - Doubles Draw - Live Scores

Roland Garros WTA - Official Site - Order of Play - Singles Draw - Qualifiers Draw - Doubles Draw - Live Scores

By Richard Pagliaro
Photo Credit: Mark Howard

(May 24, 2010) The court color scheme did not change, but the red clay as comfortable as US Open blue for a pair of powerful Americans today.

On a warm day with the sun-splashed red clay courts playing faster than they typically do, John Isner and Taylor Dent both registered their first career Roland Garros wins.

For a day of French Open play, the pair celebrated red, white and terre battue.

The 17th-seeded Isner did not face a break point in powering past Andrey Golubev, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round.



Unloading his mammoth serve and favored forehand combination, the 6-foot-9 Isner does not alter his game for clay. But his height and reach give him a comfort zone against opponents who hit heavy topspin shots that sit up right in Isner's strike zone.

"Maybe on the return of serve I move a foot back further than I would on a hardcourt.
But for the most part, I'm gonna play my game," Isner said. "That's obviously serve big, serve and volley a good bit, and try to end points with my forehand. So it's pretty much the same concept. I think the clay just gives me more time to move around in the back and, you know, play better I mean, and play defense, which I think I did that today. I won a couple key points from behind, and that's what the clay allows you to do."

Playing his first French Open match in six years, Dent used the combination of his biting slice backhand and heavy forehand to pummel 33-year-old Nicolas Lapentti, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) and earn his first clay-court victory of the season.

The 102-ranked Dent, who once beat French Open finalist Guillermo Coria in the 1998 French Open junior tournament, forced Lapentti to try to dig out his low slice from awkward positions on the court. It's a shot that served two other serve-and-volleyers —  Tim Henman and Patrick Rafter — well in their past runs to the Roland Garros semifinals.

"(The court speed) was a huge factor. Any time the court allows me to use my chip it's a huge factor for me," Dent said. "My game was so different (when I reached the French Open junior quarterfinals) now. Back then, I was standing five feet behind the baseline and just hammering forehands. Today, I'm chipping the ball around the baseline a lot and looking to get in. It works."

The dirt becomes considerably more demanding in the second round for Dent, who will take on fifth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling. The 2009 French Open finalist ruthlessly ripped French wild card Laurent Recouderc, 6-0, 6-2, 6-3. Dent said his backhand effectiveness will determine his fate.

"It's gonna come down to how effective my slice can be against him," Dent said. "If he can hammer my slice and hurt me (it will be tough). On the flip side if my slice is effective and I can dictate and control points with my slice backhand he's gonna have to hit a lot of passing shots."

It was not a complete success for American men as qualifiers Michael Yani and Jesse Witten both lost.  Marcos Baghdatis, the No. 25 seed, beat Witten, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Witten defeated Igor Andreev and pushed Novak Djokovic to four sets at the 2009 US Open, but has not broken through with a Tour-level win since then.

Yani's demise came in gut-wrenching fashion as the former Duke standout failed to convert match points and suffered a 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 12-10 triumph in a match that began on Sunday and was suspended due to darkness.

While earning all-American honors at Georgia, Isner rarely played on clay. He missed the 2009 French Open while battling mono. But he's found his footing on clay this season. Isner took then World No. 2 Novak Djokovic to five sets in the first round Davis Cup tie staged in Belgrade in March.

Committing to playing his brand of bold baseline tennis and attacking net on several short balls, Isner has made strides in advancing the Belgrade final where he lost to doubles partner Sam Querrey and pairing with Querrey to reach the Rome doubles final where the pair fell to Davis Cup teammates Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan.

"We played in a clay court final in Europe, albeit a few weeks back, so people definitely know that both myself and Sam can play on this surface," Isner said. "I think really of all the Americans we've played the most on it. We decided to come over here for the long haul. This is our fifth week. I think it's gonna pay dividends at this tournament. Like I said, we're both big guys and should hold our serve a lot no matter the surface. The clay just gives us more time, and the ball sits up in our strike zone."

Just three years ago, American men were shut out of the 2007 Roland Garros as nine Americans — Andy Roddick, James Blake, Amer Delic, Justin Gimelstob, Robby Ginepri, Robert Kendrick,  Querrey, Michael Russell and Vince Spadea — bit the dust in the opening round of the 2007 French Open collectively combining to create a piece of ignominius history: it was the worst Grand Slam performance by American men in 34 years.

Can Isner, Querrey, and Andy Roddick, who has missed virtually the entire clay-court season, make a solid impact this month?

Isner is in the most favorable section of the draw and would not play a seed until facing 18th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych. Like Isner, Berdych is at his best on hard courts.

The World No. 19, who sometimes practices on clay to build up his leg strength, knows red clay has been a sink hole for Americans in the past, but believes he can generate a big enough foot print to possibly reach the second week.

"I mean, obviously historically Americans don't do that great here or over the last ten years or eight years or whatever but I think it's something that we're getting better at," Isner said. "I think there's a lot of Americans in the main draw. There's a few that qualified. We got a bunch that got directly accepted. I think we're definitely getting better on clay. It's not our best surface per se; that's probably hard court. But I think three, four, five people even have the ability of making to the second week."