OCR Text |
Show V. Ill 1 1 J A I YJr X Howard Fendrich ASSOCIATED SEQION I fmS 0-fo- PARIS Andy Roddick knows the story well, so he politely declined the official match DVD that players are offered at the French Open. Rod"No, thanks," the No. dick said. "I just don't want to see that ever again." He had just exited in the first round at Roland Garros for the fourth time d in six years, a four-se- t loss to Igor Andreev of Russia that was part of an 8 showing by US men Tuesday at the Grand Slam tournament. The worst American performance at the French Open in at least 30 years began, understandably enough, at the hands of No. 1 Roger Federer. He started his quest for a fourth consecu 125th-ranke- 0-- rt SPORTS EDITOR One of their countrymen remained in the draw, at least until play resumes: The ninth and final US. representative, Robby Ginepri, split the first two sets against Diego Hartfield of 3-- 64, 7-- 7-- 5 Argentina before their match was suspended because of fading light. "It's no secret we haven't done that great on clay this year," Blake said, "but I think we have the ability." Granted, they're hardly the only American men who've found the red clay of Paris more troublesome than what's underfoot at other majors. No U.S. man won the French Open between Tony Trabert in 1955 and Michael Chang in 1989, and Andre Agassi was the last to do it, in 1999. Such greats as Pete Sampras, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors never hoisted a French Open singles trophy. Connors is now Roddick's coach and 6-- defeat against Ivo Karlovic near day's end. . Au revoir, mes amis! Two members of the Top 10 (Roddick and Blake), a (Querrey), a late bloomer (Delic), a handful of no matter the profile, the veterans result was the same Tuesday. MAY 30. WEDNESDAY, Darnell Dickson had a front row seat as Andreev accumulated a stunning 38-- 1 edge in forehand winners. "A loss is never any good. But the good thing is, from my standpoint, I can understand," Connors said. "I can understand, because I had some tough times here myself." Still, it's not as though Roddick, Blake and Co. are coming as close as McEnroe, who reached the final in Paris, or Sampras and Connors, who reached the semifinals. And consider this: Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy all have three men in this French Open's second round. France has 11, Argentina nine. "It's frustrating, but we'll hopefully get it back on grass," Blake said. "I promise we won't have all eight guys 2007 ddicksonheraldextra.com 344-255- 5 at French Open r-8 tive major title by finishing a 64, 64 victory over Michael Russell in a match suspended by rain during the second set Monday. Then Justin Gimelstob lost to No. 32 Nicolas Almagro in straight sets. And Amer Delic was sent home by 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero. Roddick's 64 de64, parture came next, followed in quick succession by those of Robert Kend-ricSam Querrey, a racket tossing Vince Spadea and No. 8 James Blake, who watched 22 aces zoom past in a 4-- "" - 6-- PRESS clay-cou- IV I VJ U.S. men THE I Jl ,iXMr if -- ? , - ' . . . f C j DAVID VINCENTAssociated Press serves tdRussia's d Igor Andreev during their match of the French Open See TENNIS, C4 on Tuesday. Andreev won. Andy Roddick first-roun- 2007 NBA CONFERENCE FINALS Youngsters lead the way Gibson, James take over as Cavs pull even with Pistons Tom Withers THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The kid CLEVELAND came up big. LeBron James did, too. And the Cleveland Cavaliers are as close as they've ever been to an NBA title. 13 James scored 25 points in the fourth quarter and rookie Daniel Gibson added a 21 as the Cavaliers season-hig- h DOUGLAS evened the Eastern Conference finals with a victory over the Detroit C. PIZACAssociated Press Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams (8) is surrounded by San Antonio's Michael Finley (4), Bruce Bowen (12) and Robert Horry (5) during the third quarter Saturday. This is Williams' first season in the from top to bottom. playoffs, while the Spurs are playoff-teste- d Young Jazz surrounded by Spurs' experience Jaime Aron THE ASSOCIATED PRESS As much as SAN ANTONIO the individual talents of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Gino-bihave frustrated the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference finals, the San Antonio Spurs have benefited from something else: their collective experience. The Spurs are the oldest team in the league, featuring a roster full of players who've won championships or been part of long postseason runs. The calmness, confidence and wisdom gained along the way has been put to good use against the novice Jazz, helping San Antonio build a 1 series lead going into Game 5 tonight. Consider the evidence. li 3-- In Games 1 and 2, San Antonio built big leads, then prevented Utah from getting close until it was way too late. The Jazz finally clicked when they went home for Game 3 andthe Spurs were wise enough to realize it wasn't their night. Rather than go all out for a rally that might 've made the final score look as Utah did late in the first good San Antonio coach two games Gregg Popovich let backups finish what became a loss. The best example, though, was Game 4 on Monday night. Neither team was playing great, but both were playing hard. The Spurs led by only one point early in the fourth quarter when a foul was called on the Jazz. See DETROIT 91 87 Gib- - son made 12 of 12 free throws, Drew Gooden added 19 points and Eric Snow hit a crucial free throw in the final seconds as the Cavaliers moved within two victories of their first trip to the finals. They'll have to win at least once in Detroit to get there. James, criticized for his fourth-quarte-r failures in Games 1 and 2 at Detroit, had a virtuoso-like performance in the final 12 minutes. He went from the field, from the line and added four rebounds and three assists. "I told my teammates, 'Get me to the fourth and it's close, and I'll try my best to win,"' James said. He made good on his word. Game 5 is Thursday night in Auburn Hills, Mich., with Game 6 back at Quicken Loans on 1 !.' The Cavaliers, who lost a series to Detroit last year, are making just their third visit to the conference finals and each time they've been tied 2 TONY DEJAKAssociated Press before losing in six games. Cleveland's Anderson Varejao, right, and LeBron James celebrate late in the Cavaliers' When he was drafted, James 7 win over the Detroit Pistons in Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals seven-gam- (4) UTAH JAZZ AT (3) SAN ANTONIO SPURS Tonight, 7 p.m. TV: ESPN AM101.1 CLEVELAND Pistons in Game 4 Tuesday night. The J5aturday. Utah Jazz Game Day Radio: 1320 JAZZ, C5 91-8- 7 FM e 2-- 91-8- See CAVS, C5 Tuesday in Cleveland. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Shake, rattle Ben Walker THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Jose Reyes juked, NEW YORK bluffed and faked a mad dash, anything to rattle Armando Benitez. Surprisingly, it paid off twice. Moments after Reyes provoked the excitable reliever into his second balk of the 12th inning, Carlos Delgado hit his second homer of the game to lift the New York Mets over the San Francisco Giants 54 Tuesday night. just tried to put some pressure on him," Reyes said, "and it worked." With the ballpark still buzzing after Reyes trotted home with the tying run, Delgado's shot gave the Mets their fourth straight win. The NL East leaders posted their 15th victory. "I - then Mets roll in 12th "We're good at it," Delgado said. Minus Barry Bonds from the starting lineup, the Giants dropped their fourth in a row. "That's a tough one to lose," manager Bruce Bochy said. A strange one, too. After Omar Vizquel barely beat Delgado's throw home to put San Francisco in the top of the 12th, the Mets ahead rallied; 4-- 3 Reyes drew a leadoff walk from Benitez ) and moved up on a balk. It was hard to tell exactly what first base umpire Bob Davidson saw his nick(0-3- name in baseball is "Balkin' Bob" for his frequent balk calls. Benitez "started and stopped," crew chief Randy Marsh said, speaking on behalf of the umpires. Countered Benitez: "I don't think so." ' A sacrifice by Endy Chavez moved Reyes to third,, and he stayed there when Carlos Beltran grounded out. Reyes then began dancing down line. Suddenly, Benitez the third-bas- e seemed to break his hands apart and Reyes was waved home by a couple of the umpires. "I think he was startled by Reyes," Marsh said. "Both balks were pretty obvious." Bochy wasn't sure about the first call. The second time, he said, Benitez "did flinch." Benitez stalked around on the mound and, without much time to compose himself, served up Delgado's 414th career home run. While the Mets celebrated, Benitez walked with his head down See METS, ED BETZAssociated Press teammates after he hit a walk-of- f home run against the San Francisco Giants in C3 thel2th inning Tuesday at Shea Stadium in New York. New York Mets' Carlos Delgado, right center, is mobbed by |