French Open, Day 3: Andy Roddick Fights Back To Win In 5; Sam Querrey Falls To Fellow American Robby Ginepri

Tuesday morning at Roland Garros was an important one for the American men, with their first and third ranked players in action.

Andy Roddick looked strong in his first set of the season on the European clay, cruising 6-2 over Jarkko Nieminen. It appeared as if it would be an easy first round match for Roddick, but his Finnish opponent fought back, wining the second and third sets. In the fourth, Roddick evened the match by winning a tiebreak. He went on to take the fifth set after breaking Nieminen early, 6-3.

Roddick’s movement on the clay was shaky, an aspect of clay court play with which he always struggles. Not playing on the surface leading up to the French Open certainly doesn’t help. But the conditions were fast, which plays well into Roddick’s game.

Earlier in the day, two Americans faced off in their first round match as 18th-seeded Sam Querrey took on unseeded Robby Ginepri. Querrey took the first set before losing the next three as Ginepri was able to capitalize on mistakes — Querrey had 37 unforced errors.