PARIS, May 30: The young American brigade arrived at Roland Garros amid much fanfare but only four days after the claycourt grand slam began, only two of the original 13 U.S. players remain — and they are both over 28.

“I’m very happy for those guys...but I’m very disappointed that I’m not in the third round,” said James Blake, who was the last of the so called ‘Generation Next’ of Americans to exit the French Open tournament.

With his match held over from Wednesday after bad light halted play, Blake bowed out in the second round after losing 6-3 4-6 7-6 6-4 to Ivan Ljubicic, leaving just Vincent Spadea and 33-year-old Andre Agassi in the draw.

“I guess all the media were right, maybe the Americans aren’t doing so well on clay,” said Blake.

“I had looked forward to this claycourt season because everyone had been saying that the younger Americans aren’t doing well on clay.

“You know a lot of people have been hyping this young generation — Andy (Roddick), myself, Mardy (Fish), Taylor (Dent) — saying we’re gonna do great things.

“It’s rare to hear people say we can’t do something.

“I’ve always had a pretty good response to people who told me they can’t do things.

“That’s definitely what I’m looking forward to doing next year, proving the people wrong who think this is going to be the norm as opposed to this year being the exception to the rule.”

Despite Blake’s comments, none of the younger Americans have yet been able to fulfil their potential on any surface.

Roddick, who at 20 is the youngest of the quartet, has achieved their best result by reaching the semi-finals at this year’s Australian Open.

Todd Martin, a runner-up at the Australian and U.S. Opens, was philosophical about the plight of his compatriots.

“We’ve got a young batch of players who have run into a speed bump after enjoying a meteoric rise,” Martin said following his defeat by Tim Henman.

“This period of time is going to be a big challenge for them.

“Their games are certainly up to it. I’m pretty confident that mentally and emotionally they are up to dealing with this bit of a dose of reality that they are getting. It’ll make them better players in the future.”

Always prepared to look on the bright side of things, Blake remained upbeat.

“At least we’re all going through this bad patch together,” the 23-year-old said with a laugh.

“It’s not like one guy is doing great and the rest are struggling. We’re all struggling right now.”—Reuters