TENNIS in DEPTH.

Defending champion Rafa Nadal will begin his quest for a record-equalling sixth title at Roland Garros against Wimbledon marathon man John Isner. Nadal, who is bidding to match Bjorn Borg’s feat, has a tricky opponent in the giant American, who set a Grand Slam endurance record last year when he won an epic second round tie against Nicolas Mahut at the All England Club which lasted 11 hours and five minutes.

Murray, a quarter-finalist in 2009, is seeded to play Jurgen Melzer in the last eight. He has beaten the Austrian world number eight in all of their previous five meetings, although Melzer made it to the semi-finals of the French Open last year. If Murray overcomes Melzer, top seed Nadal is likely to be waiting for him in the semis. World number two Novak Djokovic, who has chalked up 37 successive victories this year, is on course to meet Roger Federer in the semi-finals. Djokovic, twice a semi-finalist in Paris, faces Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker in round one, while Federer begins his campaign agaisnt Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.

Women’s world number one Caroline Wozniacki will play 40-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm, who is twice her age, for a place in round two. Kim Clijsters, playing the French Open for the first time since a semi-final appearance in 2006, meets Anastasiya Yakimova, while defending champion Francesca Schiavone takes on highly-rated American teenager Melanie Oudin and Maria Sharapova faces Mirjana Lucic.

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Andy Roddick and 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero withdrew from the year’s second Grand Slam tournament Thursday night after failing to recover from right shoulder injuries. Both spent time at No. 1 in the rankings in 2003, when Roddick beat Ferrero in the U.S. Open final — the last time an American man won a major singles title

The 11th-ranked Roddick pulled out of the Italian Open doubles final last weekend and the singles event at this week’s Open de Nice to give himself a chance of recovering in time for Roland Garros. The French Open draw is Friday, and play starts Sunday.

Roddick is mired in a four-match losing streak in singles dating to mid-March. His game is built on a big serve and forehand that are slowed by the red clay of Roland Garros, and in nine trips to the tournament, he’s made it as far as the fourth round just once, in 2009. His career French Open record is 9-9, including four first-round losses.

Ferrero has only played five matches this season and is ranked 72nd this week. In addition to his French Open title, he was the tournament’s runner-up in 2002.

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Mardy Fish and John Isner of the United States lost their matches to Argentina in the semifinals of the World Team Cup. Juan Monaco edged Fish 7-6 (4), 7-5 Thursday, while Juan Ignacio Chela defeated John Isner 6-1, 7-6 (1). Fish held opportunities in each set, but Monaco was able to hold off the challenge. Isner never looked comfortable against Chela in the opening set before taking it to a tiebreaker in the second set.

The other finalist will be decided Friday among Germany, Serbia, Russia and Spain.

The United States has reached a low point in tennis. Not merely because the country no longer churns out new champions with regularity, but also because it is not really relevant at the top of the game right now. Earlier this month, for the first time in more than 35 years of computerized rankings, no player from the U.S. appeared in the ATP or WTA top 10. Plus, the last American man to win a Grand Slam singles title was Roddick, at the 2003 U.S. Open—29 major tournaments ago. If, as expected, that drought continues at the French Open, which starts Sunday in Paris, the gap will equal the longest in history for U.S. men—a 30-Slam shutout from 1955-63.

“We’re so used to having champions for the last, oh, century,” said Venus Williams, owner of seven major singles titles. “Right now is something we’re not used to.”

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Jelena Jankovic of Serbia was upset by Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Brussels Open on Wednesday. It was the latest setback on clay this spring for Jankovic, who failed to progress beyond the second round of three of the four tournaments she has played on the surface. Last week, she reached the quarterfinals in Rome for her best clay-court result this year. Jankovic reached the semifinals at the French Open three of the last four years.

Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva survived an early scare to beat Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 and advance to the quarterfinals. In an all-Belgian match, sixth-seeded Yanina Wickmayer edged 17-year-old qualifier Alison Van Uytvanck 7-6 (2), 6-4. Wickmayer will play in the quarterfinals against top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.

Eighth-seeded Peng Shuai of China joined the Russian in the last eight, beating qualifier Abigail Spears of the United States 6-2, 6-0. The clay-court tournament is the last warmup for the French Open, which begins Sunday.

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Curious about what’s fuelling Novak Djokovic’s rocket ride to the verge of the top ranking in men’s tennis? Well, it’s not pasta. At least not the standard kind. Before the current season, Djokovic switched to a gluten-free diet and suddenly most forms of processed carbohydrates became off-limits to him. Just as suddenly, he grew into an unstoppable force on the tennis court. In January, he defeated Andy Murray to win the Australian Open. This past Sunday, he dropped Rafael Nadal to win the Italian Open. The 23-year-old attributes much of his success to his eating habits.

John McEnroe had also heard about the gluten-free diet that Djokovic has been on, and suggested he might follow suit in preparation for the ATP Champions Tour event in London, 30th November to 4th December. ”I heard that from my brother the other day, so I’m considering going on that for my return to the Royal Albert Hall,” said McEnroe.

Common in starchy foods, gluten helps make bread rise and bagels chewy. But some people don’t digest it well, and in others it can exacerbate autoimmune disorders from eczema to multiple sclerosis. For those with celiac disease, gluten is especially harmful. Djokovic said off-season testing determined he was allergic to gluten, prompting the drastic shift in his eating habits. “I have lost some weight but it’s only helped me because my movement is much sharper now and I feel great physically,” he told the Mirror in April.

But “gluten-free” doesn’t necessarily mean “healthy,” says Noa Deutsch, a trainer and nutritionist in Victoria, B.C. Instead of buying expensive gluten-free processed foods, she recommends simply replacing foods with oats, barley or rye with gluten-free whole foods such as buckwheat, yams or quinoa. Going gluten-free won’t turn a fringe professional into Djokovic, but Deutsch recommends that athletes try it if they’re curious. “If they feel better and they’re not finding it too restrictive, they might as well stay on it,” she says. “If they don’t feel better or they find it too restrictive then there’s no point … but if it works, it works.”

mcampbell@thestar.ca

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Dokic easily accounted for Romania’s Simona Halep 6-2 6-1 to move into the second round where she is supposed to play the winner of the first round match between third seed Ana Ivanovic and Croatian qualifier Mirjana Lucic.

In other action, fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia defeated Rebecca Marino of Canada 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to reach the second round. Petrova, twice a semi-finalist at the French Open, has struggled on clay so far this season and lost first round-matches both in Madrid and Rome. Petrova next plays either Alize Cornet or Sania Mirza.

Maria Kirilenko of Russia and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, the No.5 and No.6 seeded players respectively, also advanced. Kirilenko easily beat last year’s finalist Kristina Barrois of Germany 6-2 6-3 and will take on Laura Pous-Tio of Spain. Hantuchova took advantage of Johanna Larsson’s weak serve and broke her four times in a 6-3 6-4 win. Seventh-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues and Mathilde Johansson of France also advanced. Garrigues made light work of American Melanie Oudin 6-3 6-1 to start her quest for a fourth title in Strasbourg while Pous-Tio beat German Angelique Kerber 6-4 6-2. Johansson converted five of 11 break points to beat Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, 6-1 6-1 in just 61 minutes.

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“Considering that it is not my racket hand, I can still practice, but backhands are out of the question for the next few days. I expect to be fit for Roland Garros.”

Ana Ivanovic has withdrawn from the Internationaux de Strasbourg due to inflammation in her left wrist. She said: “It’s very disappointing. It’s always extra disappointing to have to withdraw while on-site at a tournament, because you’ve felt the excitement and met the staff, and you’re looking forward to being part of it all. ”I was impressed by this tournament while I was here, I felt very welcome, and it’s such a shame that I am unable to compete. Hopefully I’ll be back sometime in the future. ”I’ve had this pain for a while now, despite physical therapy. My doctor has told me to rest it completely for a few days, and I’m having treatments twice a day.

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After pulling out of the Rome doubles final with a shoulder injury, Andy Roddick is furious with ATP tour officials that he and Mardy Fish were only given semifinalists’ prize money. The team was scheduled to play fellow Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey.

The ATP put the rule in place to deter players from abandoning doubles matches without good cause.

The Times of London reported that the ATP docked Roddick and Fish $31,400 after pulling out of the final at 5 PM so they could catch a flight to Dusseldorf for World Team Cup, where organizers were allegedly threatening sanctions if they did not turn up in time to play. ”We’re going to have to beg for the money we’ve earned,” Roddick said. “Why should Mardy be punished when I can’t play? Mardy has played the [semifinal] match, he won the match, he earned the money, you can’t take away something he has already done. This is embarrassing for the tour. The ATP people said they could not make a unilateral decision so I either take a chance with the appeal process or I played with a shoulder that didn’t give us much chance of winning and had a risk for the future. I would have had to play the full match. I asked if I played a point and then withdrew what would happen and they said the same thing, so it would have been an hour mockery as opposed to a five-minute mockery. The ATP stands for Association of Tennis Professionals; it should be the Association of Tie People.”

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