Using the rankings to schedule Slams doesn't work

	No. 3 seed Andy Roddick -- eliminated in round 1 -- had admitted his goal was merely to make it to Week 2 of the French Open. Bob Martin/SI
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A stateside Baguette as we wait out the rain in Paris...

Dude, Vegas is favoring Novak Djokovic and Guillermo Cañas after Nadal and the Fed to win the French. Why can't tennis resort to surface specific seedings for the Slams?
-- Juan Higeros, San Francisco

Wholehearted agreement here. Apart from eliminating charges of bias, I see no benefit to blindly following the rankings. Andy Roddick is the third seed and yet he was candidly admitting before his loss on Tuesday to Igor Andreev that his goal was to reach the second week. Who does this benefit? There are players more deserving -- and to Roddick's credit, he concedes as much -- of that spot in the draw.

Given Roddick's loss, the headlines will read "Big upset in Paris," when the reality is that his premature departure was to be expected. Most important, his quadrant is now wide open and we'll hear about how a "no name" advances to the semis.

We all recognize that clay is a unique surface that demands different skills. Wouldn't we all be better off acknowledging this and taking a player's clay-court aptitude and history into consideration when determining the seeding? Particularly if done wisely and objectively -- i.e. the boys at Wimbledon who have an empirical formula -- "surface specific" seeding strikes a blow for common sense.

I watched the French Open last year and there was a Frenchman whose name I have now forgotten -- he played Nadal closer than anyone, I believe in the quarters. It was a fantastic match and was the closest anyone came to Nadal. But no mention of him this year. What gives?
-- Ben Yates, Nice, France

Paul-Henri Mathieu. Fine, talented player who's beaten Fernando Gonzalez twice already this year. We probably should have included him as a dark horse, though his mettle in tight matches leaves something to be desired.

When it comes to women's tennis, is Serbia the new Belgium?
-- Daniel, Toronto

Nice.

How about those Bondarenkos!
-- Phyllis Ely, Westfield, Ind.

Whose Bondarenkos are you talking about?

Please, I need Roger's e-mail. I always support him.
-- Tul, Kathmandu, Nepal

Can't help you there. But if you go to his Web site, you'll get a mailing address. Word is that you send him something to sign or simply request an autographed photo and he complies in a matter of weeks.

First it's Woods, then it's Klitschko. Maybe Kobayashi will turn up in Paris to inspire Federer to win the French.
-- Grant Cheng, Manila, Philippines

I'm thinking Zinedine Zidane here. (Grant's reference: Vladmir Klitschko, the boxer, was in Federer's box for the Nadal match in Hamburg, Germany.)

Marginalia

• The New York Champions Trophy will take place June 14 -17 in a specially constructed stadium at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens. The Thursday and Friday sessions will begin at 6 p.m. and will each feature two singles matches. The Saturday session and the Sunday final session will each feature two singles matches and one doubles match and will start at 2 p.m. Tickets range in price from $20 to $85; VIP boxes and all-sessions series are also available. The advance purchase ticket discount, for online ticket orders only, is available until May 31. Tickets can be ordered at championstennis.us or by calling 718-569-0594.

	Philippoussis
	Stamos

• James Blake has apparently ended his relationship with Prince and has returned to Dunlop. Between this and the contretemps over Federer's did-he-or-didn't-he switch to a new Wilson racket, here's a Bill Maherian New Rule: All players have to come clean about their rackets. Paints jobs are the worst kept secret in the industry and this has been the case for years. But the cloak-and-dagger deception over which model a player is or isn't using has reached comical proportion.

• Speaking of candor, it looks like we weren't the only ones who were suspicious about the girth of Roddick on a recent magazine cover.

• Tom Lamar of Sacramento, Calif., notes: Here's something odd.

• Chris Somers of Antwerp, Belgium, recommends that Dutch speakers check out the blog of former French Open one-hit wonder Filip Dewulf.

• Ivan H. of New York City sends these long-lost siblings: Mark Philippoussis and John Stamos.