Querrey ousted early in French Open again

Sam Querrey, playing doubles at Indian
Wells in March, lost to rising star Hyeon
Chung today in the first round of the
French Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The struggles of Sam Querrey -- and U.S. men in general -- in the French Open continued today.
   Querrey, a San Francisco native seeded 27th and ranked 28th, lost to rising star Hyeon Chung of South Korea 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round in Paris.
   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, who will turn 30 in October, has won only four matches in 11 appearances at Roland Garros. He has lost in the first round eight times, including the last three years, and the second round twice. He reached the third round in 2013.
   Chung, 21, is the fourth-youngest player in the top 70 at No. 67 (No. 53 Karen Khachanov of Russia is two days younger than Chung). He advanced to the quarterfinals in Barcelona as a qualifier, upsetting 20-year-old sensation Alexander Zverev in the third round, and the semifinals in Munich, knocking off 16th-ranked Gael Monfils in the second round, in consecutive clay-court tournaments recently.
   Chung climbed to a career-high No. 51 at 19 years old in October 2015 but missed three months last summer with an abdominal injury.
   U.S. men went 2-9 in the first round of singles in the French Open. The only remaining Americans are No. 21 seed John Isner and No. 25 Steve Johnson.
   U.S. women, meanwhile, went 8-7 in the first round of singles. Among the winners was CiCi Bellis, an 18-year-old San Francisco native who grew up in nearby Atherton. Bellis, the youngest player in the top 50 at No. 48, will face a Dutch player, 18th-seeded Kiki Bertens, for the second consecutive time on Wednesday.  
   The 6-foot (1.82-meter) Bertens, a semifinalist at Roland Garros last year, beat the 5-foot-7 (1.68-meter) Bellis 6-4, 6-0 two weeks ago in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome en route to the semis. Bertens then won her third career singles title, and second straight in Nurnberg, although the highest-ranked player she beat was No. 36 Alison Riske of the United States in the quarterfinals.
   Querrey will turn his attention to grass after he plays doubles with 20-year-old American Ernesto Escobedo in Paris. Querrey reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year for his best Grand Slam result, stunning two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the third round.
   Bellis is now based in Orlando, Fla., and Querrey in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica.