For American tennis stars, Paris has been a cruel place more often than not.

The slow clay of Roland Garros licked John McEnroe, conquered Jimmy Connors, and showed no mercy on Arthur Ashe, who never survived the quarterfinals. Until Michael Chang became the youngest champion ever at age 17 in 1989, the last American victor in France was Tony Trabert – in 1955. Not quite the curse of the Bambino, but a considerable drought, to say the least.

The 1990s, though, were an absolute triumph. Jim Courier took consecutive titles in 1991 and 1992, then lost in the 1993 final. Andre Agassi, a finalist in 1990 and 1991, ended the decade in grand fashion when he charged back from a two-set deficit against Andrei Medvedev to capture the only Grand Slam trophy missing from his mantle.

Alas, the golden days are gone, and may not return for some time. Agassi has said the grinding points of clay-court tennis become more taxing each year. Andy Roddick, meanwhile, finds clay as pleasant as a broken string, unless the courts are in Houston; in his last three trips to Paris, Roddick has lost in the first round twice and the second round once.

Much of this has to do with style of play. Movement and court positioning are Roddick’s weaknesses, and on clay, those skills are paramount. Roddick booms his serve and smacks his forehand, but clay softens his blows and gives his opponents time to recover. The two other Americans in the top 50, Taylor Dent and Mardy Fish, are ill-equipped for clay, too: Dent, who yesterday withdrew from the French Open with a sprained ankle, serves and volleys and Fish likes to be on the attack, not the defensive.

In Courier’s view, though, the Americans could improve their chances by varying their practice routines.

“From what I’ve seen, fewer players in America switch surfaces,” Courier said.

So far this year, Americans have shied away from clay. The seven ranked in the top 100 have played a total of 26 matches on the surface. Rafael Nadal has racked up 33 on his own, followed by Gaston Gaudio, the defending French Open champ, with 29. The biggest mistake the Americans can make in Paris, Courier said, is to cast aside their strengths in favor of long baseline rallies that clay-court specialists love.

“On clay, you see these players who try to adjust their games too much and become counter-punchers,” Courier said. “There is nothing that a clay-court player would like to see more. You are conceding that way.”

Courier offered Richard Gasquet, the French teen who defeated Roger Federer in Monte Carlo and then lost to him in the finals at Hamburg, as an example of a player who succeeds on clay despite hitting hard, oftentimes flat shots and taking risks.

“He makes the surface conform to him,” Courier said.

So fire up that serve, Andy, and spare us another 34 years of futility.