PARIS — America’s tennis stars have outdone themselves at this year’s French Open. Ever vulnerable on clay, our men yesterday redefined ineptitude at Roland Garros. Nine of them took the court, and eight of them lost. Darkness spared them the ultimate embarrassment of a nine up, nine down sweep, when Robby Ginepri’s match with Diego Hartfield was halted at one set each. Even if Ginepri wins today, this will rank as the worst performance by Americans here in the Open Era, which began in 1968.

Michael Russell was the first to go, but he couldn’t be blamed for losing to Roger Federer, the world no. 1 who is looking to win this tournament to complete his collection of Grand Slam titles. No one could fault Justin Gimelstob, a 30-year-old who had back surgery last year and is nearing the end of his career. Same for Amer Delic, the former University of Illinois standout who was playing his first match at Roland Garros, and Sam Querrey, another first timer at age 19. Vince Spadea and Robert Kendrick were hardly favorites, either.

The same cannot be said for Andy Roddick and James Blake, seeded no. 3 and no. 8 respectively. Neither man faced an easy firstround opponent, but their draws, overall, were quite good. This is a major tournament, after all. One can’t expect a free ride. This was as good a year as any, and perhaps better than most, for an American to finagle his way into the second week of this event, if not contend for a title.

Roddick, at least, shouldn’t be disgusted with his performance. He’s had many a grim moment at this tournament, most of them on the Suzanne Lenglen court, where he played yesterday. Last year, he limped around on a bad ankle before retiring in the first round. The year before, he relinquished a two-sets-to-love lead in the second round against Jose Acasuso, an Argentine whose booming serve and big forehand are better suited to hard courts than clay. He lost in the first round in 2002 and 2003, and the second round in 2004. Before his first-round match against Igor Andreev yesterday, Roddick had a 4–6 career record at Roland Garros, compared to 71–18 at the other three majors.

Roddick said he felt different this time. But the result was the same on a cool, and for the first time, dry, afternoon in Paris. Andreev cranked up his forehand after falling behind 6–4, 4–2 — he hit a beauty down the line while sliding off the court to earn his first break of the match — and dominated rallies the rest of the way, 3–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4.

Roddick didn’t lack energy, nor did he play like he didn’t care, and he let everyone know this when he yelled, in the fourth set, “I f———do, okay, I promise. I’m playing my ass off here.”

He wasn’t lying. For almost three hours, the 24-year-old American scrambled and lunged for balls out of his reach. If anything, he might have tried too hard: At times, he seemed to choke his racket and take the tense cuts one would expect from a body builder, not a limber tennis player (racket speed is not about muscle — just take a look at Roger Federer’s biceps). Roddick couldn’t put the ball by Andreev. Most of his serves were returned, and he ended the match with only a few forehand winners and just five aces. Andreev smacked 38 forehands out of Roddick’s reach and aced him eight times. He beat Roddick in overall winners 66 to 19.

The lowest moment came in the fourth set, when Roddick had a break point to pull even at 3–3. He found his way to the net after barely reaching a backhand, only to hit a weak swinging forehand volley that Andreev, trapped in the forecourt, flicked crosscourt with his backhand for a winner. As time ran out, Roddick’s coach, Jimmy Connors, one of the greatest clay-court players of his day, looked on in disbelief, often shaking his head.

Andreev’s free-swinging inspired many of the nods. If the gangly 23-year-old Russian’s broad shoulders, long arms, and flowing blonde hair make him seem awkward, trust that he’s no slouch, especially on clay. Before Federer defeated Rafael Nadal (who advanced to the second round yesterday) in Hamburg last week, Andreev had been the last man to send the Spaniard home without a trophy. That was in Valencia in 2005, about a year before Andreev had surgery on his left knee that sidelined him for six months. His ranking, once as high as no. 24, has fallen to no. 125 (he’s playing in Paris with a protected ranking of no. 27).

The Russian missed several chances in the first set yesterday, including a 0–40 advantage in Roddick’s second service game. But his forehand on break point in the second set turned the match in his favor. Roddick was steady at the start, and Andreev was mediocre. Roddick was steady the rest of the way, and Andreev was stellar.

On Court 2, Blake was stumped by Ivo Karlovic, the 6-foot-10-inch Croat whose serve, a jolt delivered from the heavens, does damage no matter the surface. Karlovic put 69% of his first serves in play, and Blake converted just one of his five break points in the first two sets. He couldn’t produce another chance in the last two frames and lost 4–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5. He said Karlovic kept him from finding a rhythm.

“It’s not a normal clay court match by any sense,” Blake said. “I don’t get a chance to get in the points.”

No chance for Blake, no chance for Roddick, no chance, once again, for Americans in Paris. Roddick and Blake said they’ll be back next year, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t perform better. Then again, things couldn’t get much worse.

tperrotta@nysun.com