PARIS(AP) Twelve years into Taylor Dent's career, tennis is still taking him places he has never been. This week it's the second round of the French Open.
The American won a match at Roland Garros for the first time, and his reward will be a match Wednesday against 2009 runner-up Robin Soderling.
Dent's attacking game is typically not well-suited to clay, but warm, dry weather at the start of the tournament has made the courts harder and quicker. He took advantage Monday by beating Nicolas Lapentti 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3), and he figures his aggressive approach might work against Soderling.
They haven't played each other since 2004.
My style is very unique to everybody he's faced,'' Dent said.I'm not going to keep the ball as high as he's normally used to. I'm going to keep the ball a fair bit lower.
``If the conditions are hot and I'm serving well, I'm going to be tough to break, even on a clay court. If I don't play a solid match, he might beat me up. If I do play a solid match, I feel like I'm going to have a chance to get a win.''
The warm weather has given U.S. men a shot at their best Roland Garros in several years. No. 17-seeded John Isner also reached the second round for the first time by beating Andrey Golubev 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
U.S. men have a 3-4 record so far in the first round, and they're sure to advance at least one more player. On Tuesday, No. 18 Sam Querrey was to face Robby Ginepri in an all-American matchup, while No. 6 Andy Roddick was to play Jarkko Nieminen, and Michael Russell was to take on Florent Serra.
The Americans are already assured of an improvement on last year, when they went 2-7 in the first round. Only four have reached the men's third round since 2006.
While the French Open has been their worst major tournament, Dent said it's wrong to think they don't care about Roland Garros.
It is a Grand Slam,'' Dent said.We love coming over here and playing. There's no doubt about it, and there's nothing more that Americans love than to come over here and win matches. We always have that label, like, 'Oh, you're American. First round, see you later.' So I think we get a lot of pride from winning matches here.''
Thanks to the Williams sisters, U.S. women lately have fared better in Paris - although it has been eight years since their most recent French Open championship. Serena won that, and she began a bid for another title by beating Stefanie Voegele 7-6 (2), 6-2.
The top-ranked Williams used her serve and aggressive returns to pull out the first set. She smacked three service winners late in the tiebreaker and finished with 10 aces, but gave her performance a thumbs-down.
I definitely didn't feel good about it,'' she said.At least I won. I think I'm still in the tournament; that's what matters.''
Top-ranked Roger Federer also advanced, staging a shotmaking clinic in the final two sets as he beat Peter Luczak 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
A relaxed Federer put his vast repertoire to use, including several drop shots, a slice lob and backhand winners that took improbable angles.
If it was anyone else, I'd be getting pretty angry,'' Luczak said.He just had me on a string and just (was) toying with me at the end. I think he was enjoying it.''
The match was Federer's first at Roland Garros since he beat Soderling in the 2009 final to complete a career Grand Slam.
``It was like a perfect match to get off the French Open campaign, really,'' Federer said.
No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic, a two-time semifinalist, beat Evgeny Korolev 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. No. 4 Andy Murray rallied from two sets down for the fourth time in his career and beat Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.
Winners in women's play included No. 3-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, No. 4 Jelena Jankovic, No. 5 Elena Dementieva and 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic.