PARIS — There are plenty of theories about why U.S. men have so much trouble at the French Open, and James Blake offered his thoughts on the matter after losing in the first round Tuesday.

“For the Americans, a lot of times, this isn’t our main goal of the year. Ours is generally Wimbledon and the U.S. Open,” Blake said.
“I think if we were to try to prepare completely for the French Open, we would be giving away some of our advantage at the Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. That’s where we excel. We’d rather, I think, prepare best for what our strengths are.”
The 15th-seeded Blake was eliminated 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-2 by Leonardo Mayer, a qualifier from Argentina making his Grand Slam debut.
Both other American men in action Tuesday lost, too: No. 22 Mardy Fish and unseeded Bobby Reynolds. That made the U.S. contingent 2-7 in the first round this year, with No. 6 Andy Roddick and Robert Kendrick the only winners.
“We’re trying as hard as we can,” Fish said. “Once these two weeks are over, the clay talk is over, and we’ll be looking to my most fun part of the year: Wimbledon, grass courts. That’s where we play our best.”
In 2007, the country’s men went 0-9 at the French Open. No American has won the title since Andre Agassi in 1999, and none even has reached the quarterfinals since he did in 2003.
Blake reached the final of a tournament on clay at Estoril, Portugal, this month and was not exactly down on his chances when he arrived at Roland Garros.
“Felt good. Felt like I was ready to play some good tennis and have a good run here,” he said. “Didn’t happen.”
Blake, who never has been past the third round at Roland Garros, made more than twice as many unforced errors as Mayer.
“Incredible. I played incredibly,” said Mayer, who previously failed in six tries to qualify for Grand Slam tournaments.
Asked if this was the best match he’s ever played, Mayer replied: “Yes, yes, yes.”
“I wasn’t nervous at the beginning, but at the end, when I had to close the match, I was very nervous, yes,” Mayer said. “I was dying of nerves.”

FRENCH HOPES: Frenchmen looking for the first local champion since Yannick Noah in 1983 have pinned their hopes on rising stars Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils.
Both won Tuesday — and for 2008 Australian Open runner-up Tsonga, it was his first victory at Roland Garros. He beat another Frenchman, Julien Benneteau, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Tsonga’s first match in the tournament since 2005.
“It’s a relief,” said Tsonga, who lost in the first round four years ago, was ranked too low the next two years, then pulled out last year with a knee injury.
He wore a tie to his postmatch news conference, something quite unusual — maybe even unprecedented — in a sport where many players show up in T-shirts.
“We should show a bit of respect,” Tsonga said.

YOUNG AND LEARNING: The youngest player in the women’s field went to overtime in her French Open debut before losing.
France’s 16-year-old Kristina Mladenovic came close to reaching the second round but was eliminated by Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1, 2-6, 8-6 on Tuesday.
“Well, I’m only 16, so each match is full of things that I need to learn,” Mladenovic said. “So I’m disappointed because I lost. But this is something that I learned and something I’ll use for the future.”
Mladenovic had a hard time dealing with Tuesday’s rain delay.
“I tried to manage that as well as I could,” she said, “but I don’t have much experience.”