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Andy Roddick refused to offer any excuses after being sent packing in the first round of the French Open with a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 defeat against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in Paris on Sunday.
The 26th-seeded Roddick, who has never gone past the third round of the Paris Grand Slam in 10 attempts, could not even blame his exit on being outfoxed by a claycourt specialist.
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"It's not his favourite surface either," Roddick admitted during a news conference.
Instead he went down to the man who will long be remembered for his record 11-hour five-minute tussle with American John Isner on the green grass of Wimbledon in 2010.
Mahut fired 13 aces past former world number one Roddick to secure his place in the second round.
On Sunday, he spent only two hours and 22 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen, ending Roddick's cameo appearance with a backhand winner down the line.
The American, who had not played for two months between the Miami Masters and last week's World Team Championship in Duesseldorf because of a hip injury, refused to wallow in self pity.
"I'm not going to talk about this tonight, guys. I lost a match to a guy who played better than I did. We can ask it in as many different ways as we want," said the American.
"I'm going to not discuss it. I made a choice. I played. I'm fine. I lost.
"I move just horrendously out here. My first step is just so bad on this stuff. I feel like I'm always shuffling or hopping or not stopping or something. So my footwork on this stuff now is just really bad."
