Carlos Alcaraz says he has “found the good path again” | Roland Garros Wrap, Day 2

First, though, some thoughts on Taylor Fritz and Emma Navarro, the latest Americans to sink in the French dirt.

Taylor Fritz wasn’t exactly sure what his problem was in his first-round loss to Daniel Altmaier on Monday, but he didn’t mince words trying to describe it.

“I am just, like, playing horrendous tennis on a lot of the important points,” said the fourth-ranked American, who became the highest-seeded casualty of the first two days at Roland Garros.

“I’m finding ways to just play the worst point possible,” he added a little later.

In case anyone forgot, he circled back to the subject at the end of his press conference.

“It’s just not happening. It’s just really a poor level from me on the points in the match where I need to be playing my best.”

At least Fritz managed to snag a set before he was hurried off the stage. The same couldn’t be said for his countrywoman and fellow Top Tenner, Emma Navarro, who made her own surprise exit in under an hour.

The No. 9 seed, who became the highest-ranked casualty on the women’s side, lost the first 11 games to 68th-ranked Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, before finally scratching out a game of her own. In a final insult, though, she went up 40-0 in the next game, only to lose it.

Navarro was—fortunately for her—spared the indignity of a post-match interview. So we don’t know her thoughts of her performance. Seems like a safe bet they weren’t good.

“The clay swing is where American momentum goes to die.” I’ve written those words more than once over the years. They aren’t quite as true as they once were, at least on the women’s side. Coco Gauff and Sofia Kenin have made finals at Roland Garros this decade, and players like Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins have gone deep and won tournaments on dirt. For the men, though, clay is still the equivalent of quicksand: No U.S. male has made the quarters at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003.

Fritz and Navarro had each had a good result on hard courts earlier this spring: Fritz made the semis in Miami, and Navarro won in Merida. But neither has done much since shifting to dirt, and today they lost for the usual reasons that U.S. players lose on red clay: they were playing Europeans who likely spent more time on the surface as kids, and whose topspin-heavy games are better-suited to it.

Altmaier did a good job of mixing paces and heights and playing with patience. Bouzas Maneiro did a good job of rushing Navarro and putting her on her back foot with her topspin forehand. The two Americans’ flatter strokes, built for hard courts, didn’t gain traction.

The good news for the U.S. now is that, even after losing two high seeds, the country comes to France in droves these days. Collins, Sebastian Korda, Bernarda Pera and Robin Montgomery all won their openers today; Ben Shelton and Reilly Opelka survived long matches on Sunday; and there are a dozen other Yanks in the draws, including two other Top 10 seeds in Gauff and Pegula.

We’ll see if any of them can keep from getting stuck in the mud, the way Fritz and Navarro did today. Happily for them, grass season awaits.