ALLEZ!

Where in world did the French men come from?  Well, France, I suppose.  A record twelve Frenchmen made it into the second round of the U.S. Open.  Five of them played their second round matches yesterday, with four advancing to the third round.  The one French player who lost, Guillaume Rufin, went down to fellow Frenchman, Paul-Henri Mathieu.  Arnaud Clement, who vanquished fan favorite Marcos Baghdatis in five tough sets in the first round, advanced again when Argentine Eduardo Schwank retired from the match with an injury in the second set.  Gael Monfils dismissed Russian Igor Andreev in straights to set up a third round clash against Janko Tipsarevic, conqueror of Andy Roddick. But the biggest French victory of the day by far was Richard Gasquet shocked the 6 seed, Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3-, 6-4, 6-2.  Gasquet, a former Top Ten player, was suspended from the tour for a few months last year for testing positive for cocaine.  Somehow, the ATP bought his feeble excuse that the drug entered his system when he kissed some random chick in a nightclub, and Gasquet was reinstated.  Now ranked #38, the man Brad Gilbert likes to refer to as Dickie Gasket played yesterday like the budding superstar he was a couple of years ago.  With a favorable draw, if he keeps up this form, he could make a deep run in this tournament.  Seven more Frenchmen take the court today.  Already this morning, one has advanced -- Michael Llodra -- and one has been eliminated -- Julien Benneteau.  It'll be interesting to see how the French fare as we move forward.  Will it just be a lot of hot air in the early rounds?  Or will one of them find a way to go all the way and give the French their first men's champion at the U.S. Open in 82 years.  Henri Cochet won in 1928 after another Frenchman, Rene Lacoste took the title in '26 and '27.  However, with the top four seeds on the men's side still alive, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the odds of the French breaking the streak this year are slim to none.

Oh, by the way, including Nadal, 9 Spanish men are still alive in the tournament...