BOCA RATON, Fla.(AP) The clay is green, not red, and the palm trees and balmy breeze make Paris seem far away. After each point, the chair umpire shouts out the score in English to spectators scattered along five rows of seats, and the VIP section consists of one couple: Chris Evert and Greg Norman.
Yet everyone is here because of the French Open.
For the second year in a row, the U.S. Tennis Association is holding a tournament in Boca Raton to award two French Open wild cards. John Isner won the men's event Thursday, clinching a berth in the main draw by beating Jesse Levine. The winner of the women's final Saturday also advances to Roland Garros, where play begins May 24.
The French Tennis Federation gives two wild cards to the USTA, which returns the favor for the U.S. Open. Rather than merely handing out the wild cards, the USTA decided to let players compete for them.
A similar tournament is held in Boca Raton for wild cards into the Australian Open.
We're trying to teach players from a young age that you've got to earn it,'' says Patrick McEnroe, who oversees player development for the USTA.We have a lot of luxury, a lot of wild cards, a lot of opportunities. Sometimes I think that works against us. You have too many kids, parents, coaches and agents expecting, `Hey, how come you didn't give my player a wild card?'
``Well, how about you earn it? It's pretty simple. Nobody can stop you if you're good enough. We're just trying to send that message.''
Since McEnroe was hired a year ago to save U.S. tennis, the situation has become even more bleak. Only three American women and five men rank in the top 80, and results have been especially dismal on clay.
The most accomplished clay-court player at the Boca Raton tournament was Evert, whose family has a tennis academy a few topspin lobs from the tournament site. She likes the notion of a French Open playoff in Florida.
It's not always fair if you wild-card somebody in,'' Evert says.Here they have to earn it, so I think it's great.''
Evert won seven of her 18 Grand Slam titles at the French Open. When asked about the difference between French red clay and Florida green clay, she pauses.
I don't even remember, honestly,'' says Evert, 54. After laughing, she adds,Fifty percent of playing on clay is your footwork and balance and mobility. And 50 percent is your patience.''
Patience is sometimes lacking on the courts at Boca West Country Club. When combustible Donald Young loses his serve late in a match, he launches a racket-flinging, ball-slamming tantrum. One game later, he stomps off the green clay in defeat.
Why green? After all, this is the French Open. Sort of.
We were going to install red clay, but that created a problem for the pro shop, because red does stain,'' says John Joyce, director of tennis at the club.It stained your socks. You'd put balls in your pockets, and you'd have a red stain there.
``That would be a problem with our members. They'd be buying new outfits and then bringing the clothes back. So we didn't do that.''
Despite the country club setting, the stakes are substantial: a ticket to Paris. This week's losers must now go through qualifying in Paris to make the French Open.
It's great playing with this kind of pressure,'' says McEnroe, a former top-30 player.I always say that when I was starting out, the most pressure playing was that last round of qualifying.''
But while the tennis is serious, Boca isn't Roland Garros. Spectators tend to wear T-shirts and shorts, rather than suits. There are no ball kids, so players retrieve balls themselves. Golf carts from an adjacent course whiz past.
``I hate it when they back up and go beep-beep-beep,'' one spectator complains.
Hovering above Court 1, a mockingbird sings, as if mocking American tennis on clay. Last year, for the first time since at least the 1960s, the United States failed to advance at least one woman into the fourth round at Roland Garros. Two years ago, U.S. men went 0-9 in Paris.
The Boca field this week was as green as the clay. The women's draw consisted of 11 American juniors, all 18 or younger. There were four men ranked in the top 200, with Isner the oldest at 24, but he has played only one French Open match.
The 6-foot-9 Isner says he likes clay, even though the surface slows his big serve.
I prefer it over grass at this stage of my career,'' he says.It gives me more time, and the ball bounces higher.''
If Isner's worried about red stains on his socks and shorts in Paris, he didn't mention it.