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Young Americans still waiting for their golden years

The young American brigade arrived at Roland Garros amid much fanfare but only four days after the claycourt grand slam began, only two of the original 13 US players remain -- and they are both over 28.

"I'm very happy for those guys ...but I'm very disappointed that I'm not in the third round," said James Blake, who was the last of the so called `Generation Next' to exit the French Open tournament.

With his match held over from Wednesday after bad light halted play, Blake bowed out in the second round after losing 6-3 4-6 7-6 6-4 to Ivan Ljubicic, leaving just Vincent Spadea and 33-year-old Andre Agassi in the draw.

"I guess all the media were right, maybe the Americans aren't doing so well on clay," Blake said. "I had looked forward to this claycourt season because everyone had been saying that the younger Americans aren't doing well on clay.

"You know a lot of people have been hyping this young generation -- Andy [Roddick], myself, Mardy [Fish], Taylor [Dent] -- saying we're gonna do great things," Blake said.

"It's rare to hear people say we can't do something. I've always had a pretty good response to people who told me they can't do things. That's definitely what I'm looking forward to doing next year, proving the people wrong who think this is going to be the norm as opposed to this year being the exception to the rule," he said.

Despite Blake's comments, none of the younger Americans have yet been able to fulfil their potential on any surface.

Roddick, who at 20 is the youngest of the quartet, has achieved their best result by reaching the semi-finals at this year's Australian Open.

Always prepared to look on the bright side of things, Blake remained upbeat.

"At least we're all going through this bad patch together," the 23-year-old said with a laugh.
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