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	Drysdale There's no way that all of your questions could be answered on air, so ESPN's Cliff Drysdale is checking in from Paris to lend his expertise.

For Mary and Cliff, Thanks for YEARS of enjoyable, insightful and thoughtful commentary.

Any thoughts on the reaction of the French to the American players given recent politics?
Gene Allen, Phoenix

I think they've kept it entirely out of sight and view. I honestly don't think there are hard feelings either way among the players. I haven't felt any anti-American sentiment personally in France. That seems to be the feeling of our entire crew.

But it's a good question because I was wondering going in. I thought the French crowd might become boisterous. If anything they love Agassi just as much or more than they ever have.

During the Roddick match on Tuesday, I noticed that a judge jumped down to see where a ball had hit. The call seemed to go in Roddick's favor. Does this type of call happen only on clay? I've never seen a judge change a call in these big tourneys. I love watching tennis and really appreciate your coverage, Thanks!
Laura Fix, Helena, Montana

This only happens on clay and yes they do change calls sometimes on other surfaces. No other surface leaves a mark like clay. I like that the chair umpire sometimes -- at the request of the players -- checks the mark.

If it's a surface that it is not clay, they're not allowed to get out of the chair, and then they can only overrule a clear mistake. In other words, they have to be very sure.

You've spoken quite a bit about Bjorn Borg's winning both Wimbledon and the French in the same years -- 5 times!

I know other people have pulled that off -- who and has anyone come close to that number.
Marina, Dallas, Texas

First of all, Borg did it three times, not five. He won Wimbledon five straight times, but he didn't do the double more than three times. It's still a remarkable achievement. Rod Laver is the last one I can remember because he won the Slam in '69. Other than that, I cannot remember any man winning it. For the women, Serena Williams is the most recent to complete the feat. Others who won the double are: Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong, Margaret Court, Maureen Connolly, Helen Wills-Moody and Suzanne Lenglen, who has a court named after her here at Roland Garros.

Just wondering why the few tournaments played on clay in the U.S. are still played on green clay? Why don't the tournament organizers just change the surface to the red clay like that in Europe to at least give the Americans a realistic way to prepare for the French Open? Why doesn't the USTA also start insisting on using red clay for the few clay court tournaments the up and coming juniors play on?
Pedro Pelaez, Chicago

It's a very good idea for tournament tennis. "Mattress Mack," Jim McIngvale in Houston imported the red clay from Europe at very high cost for his tournament -- the U.S. Clay-Court Championships. I don't think it would be a very bad idea for the players in the U.S. leading up to the French to be on the red clay.

My other thought is, I'm a big fan of the green clay. I think it's as good if not a better surface and easier to maintain. And green clay is American and I wouldn't like to see it disappear.

I am a college tennis player and never had to play on clay yet. Is there a different type of shoe that would be better to play on clay then on a hard surface. If so what brand do you suggest?
Rachel Burson, New Philadelphia
(go West Liberty Tennis Team)

Any shoe from any maker that has got very deep tread so that changing direction is aided. They have dimples on the grass-court shoes for Wimbledon, and I actually like those dimpled shoes for a clay court but they can mess up the clay-court surface some. If I had my choice, that's what I'd wear on a clay court, which is by definition very slippery. On the other hand, the less tread on hard court the better.

Dear ESPN Experts: You have done a great job making the comparison between the sliding footwork of the top clay-court players like Juan Carlos Ferrero and the non-sliding footwork of American players like Andre Agassi and Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati. No doubt all three are very aware that they're at a disadvantage because of their inability to slide. My question is this: In all their years on tour, why haven't these top Americans, who are all extremely wealthy world-class athletes with access to clay courts anytime they want, been able to hire some clay-court experts to teach them how to slide and even the score against the sliding Europeans?
Robb Julian, Norcross, GA

Some have tried, but there's a trade-off in playing on clay. For example in a couple of week's time, you're on grass where again you don't want to slide and the hard courts that lead up to the clay-court season.

It's a different footing and different mindset on clay. In any case, Agassi does just fine on the clay, and he's doing pretty well now.

It's also something about nature, some of them have played on it all their lives and it's a natural movement. I'm not sure the clay-court season is long enough to adjust.

What is Gabriela Sabatini up to these days?
Devena, Fredericksburg

She still spends some time on Key Biscayne, which is the home of the Nasdaq-100. She has a place in Paris. Buenos Aires is home for her, but I hear she's spending less time there now with their economic troubles there now.

Is Andre Agassi the oldest male player to hold World #1 ranking? Shafaat Khan, Manassas,Va.

Yes, he was. Depending on the outcome here, he could probably get it back. If not, the chances are that he'll get it back again before the end of the year. He's very close to Lleyton.

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