Say one thing for the top American women at the French Open: they do their level best to bring excitement to the early rounds.

Despite some sloppy tennis and persistent opponents yesterday, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams lived to play another day. The Americans both survived three-set matches in the second round, though they did not quite inspire confidence in their prospects over the next 10 days.

Davenport, the top seed but always an outsider on clay, came within two points of losing to Shuai Peng, one of several young Chinese players to make a modest impression on the tour of late. After Peng, ranked no. 43, netted a two-handed forehand with a chance for an open-court winner and a match point in the second set, Davenport took control, winning 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-0.

“I don’t expect to reach for the stars here,” Davenport said afterward. “It’s hard for me to move well on clay.”

Davenport has always been slow afoot, and on clay, poor footing only makes matters worse. So far, even the smoothest strokes in the business have not saved her scads of errors: 54 in her first match, also won in three sets, and 56 yesterday. Davenport could compensate for the clay a bit if she would serve better, but she has hit seven double faults in each of her matches. She connected on only 53% of her first serves yesterday, compared to 58% in her first round match. Her second serve has proved near useless so far, as she has won only a third of those points.

Next up for the American is France’s Virginie Razzano. Though Davenport should coax her way through that match, she looks like a strong candidate for a fourth-round exit, unless Kim Clijsters’s knee injury worsens.

As for Williams, she continues to confound. At times the former world no. 1 seems to have a grip on tennis again; moments later, she gives away entire games with double faults and unacceptable mistakes. Take the second game of the second set against yesterday’s opponent, Fabiola Zuluaga of Columbia, whom she defeated 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Up a set, a break, and 15-0, Williams double faulted twice and missed an easy backhand. Zuluaga later broke again for a 3-1 lead and held on for the set.

Zina Garrison, coach of the U.S. Federation Cup team, continues to advise Williams to charge the net, where she can use her long arms and exceptional reflexes to her advantage.

“I like this philosophy because sometimes I’m tired of hanging out on the baseline,” Williams said yesterday.

Encouraging words, but Williams does not seem to admire the tactic enough. After 27 approaches in her first match – a breezy 6-3, 6-2 victory – Williams ventured forward only 19 times yesterday, winning 15 points. It’s safe to say that if a player wins 79% of her points at the net, she should move in more than six times a set.

Though Williams’s record this year is now 21-6, she has not impressed against quality opponents, compiling a 2-4 record against top-10 players. One of those wins came against her sister Serena, who played a terrible first set in Miami, serving as if her shoulder were injured. The other came against Anastasia Myskina, who has struggled all year.

Since the brief period when Williams dominated the tour, winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001, other players have not only improved, but have also learned to pepper Williams’s suspect forehand and extend rallies. Williams’s second serve often troubles her as well, the more so when a match becomes tense. Suffice it to say, Venus needs to change things up – to “break camp,” as she said yesterday. The more often, the better.

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On the men’s side yesterday, last year’s surprise semifinalist, Great Britain’s Tim Henman, lost in four sets to Luis Horna after a scrappy performance that included an altercation with Spanish chair umpire Enric Molina. After Molina hit Henman with a code violation for swearing in the third set (on the annual children’s day at Roland Garros, no less), the two engaged in an extended debate about linguistic theory:

Henman: “If you’re in England, or you’re in Germany, or you’re in Italy, if you swear in French, it’s fine. But when you’re in France and you swear in English, it’s not acceptable. Where’s the consistency?”

Molina: “It’s probably the other guys. I don’t know if they’re consistent.”

Henman: “Do you all work for the same people? Is it the same rules or different rules?”

Molina: “I’m not even French, my friend.”

Henman: “That’s irrelevant. It’s irrelevant. So can I swear in Spanish here?”

Molina: “No.”

Henman: “Well then, why is it that on some you get a warning and on some you don’t?”

Molina: “At least on my matches I try to be consistent. If there is someone swearing, I will probably have to call him.”

Henman may have gotten the better of Molina, but Horna got the better of Henman, 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4. Let the grass court season begin.