French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Date: 23 May-6 June
Coverage: Live video streamed from 1000 BST on BBC Sport website (UK only) and BBC red button; commentary on BBC 5 live sports extra; also live on Eurosport; text commentary on BBC Sport website Details of BBC coverage

Rezai's departure, along with that of Marion Bartoli, means there are no Frenchwomen left in the last 16 of the French Open

By Piers Newbery BBC Sport at Roland Garros

The deafening noise of Friday night on Court Philippe Chatrier made a brief reappearance the following afternoon, but within 14 minutes the new darling of French tennis had departed the scene.

Aravane Rezai returned to court on Saturday locked at 7-7 in the final set with Russia's Nadia Petrova after a night of high drama had ended in the fading light, only for the star of the show to be gone after four games.

"The crowd helped me, of course," said Rezai afterwards. "I think, without them, last night I would have lost earlier."

All Grand Slam fortnights have matches that set the tournament alight and, after Gael Monfils and Fabio Fognini had done exactly that in the men's draw, Rezai and Petrova provided similar entertainment on the women's side.

606: DEBATE What have you made of Rezai's emergence?

The fact both matches ended with defeat for French players is symptomatic of a week in which this impressive tennis nation has endured a surprisingly lean time, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga the only player through to the last 16 of the singles in either draw.

It is hard to feel much sympathy from a British perspective after a 74-year wait for a Wimbledon winner, but the French are becoming impatient for a successor to Yannick Noah, who won at Roland Garros in such emotional scenes in 1983.

The last Frenchwoman to win in Paris was Mary Pierce in 2000, and before that it was Françoise Durr in 1967, but as the taxi driver said on the way out of Roland Garros, Canadian-born Pierce was "not really French".

That is a fairly widely held view and explains why the French media and public have taken to Rezai so enthusiastically since her breakthrough title in Madrid earlier this month, when she beat Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams within a week.

The question of what is "really French" is as complicated and ultimately futile as in any other nation, but the fact that Rezai is of Iranian parentage - and competed for Iran at the Women's Islamic Games in her teens - has done nothing to alter the public's opinion: Rezai is French.

Born in St Etienne, the daughter of car mechanic Arsalan and physiotherapist Nouchine, the 23-year-old's rise through the ranks of women's tennis has been uniform and impressive since she first played on the WTA Tour in 2005.

Titles were collected in Bali and Strasbourg last year and her ranking rose to a career-high of 26 at the end of 2009, but things really took off with her victory in Madrid two weeks ago.

It was not just the prestige of the event but the scalps she took along the way that gave the French media and public the sense that here they had a real contender.

With that expectation upon her it was easy to forget that the 15th seed had only once made it past the third round of a Grand Slam, but the decibel level from the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier had been cranked up to ear-splitting level as their woman both wasted and saved three match points before play stopped on Friday.

Rezai passes time with Venus Williams after her Madrid win

"It was tough for me to sleep for the first three hours," admitted Rezai when asked if she had been able to get any rest overnight. "I could sleep well but it was difficult in the beginning because I was a little bit excited.

"This morning I was very tired, especially mentally, because yesterday there was a lot of emotion. The crowd was amazing and it takes energy."

It was a distinctly chilly Chatrier that the players returned to on Saturday but, when Rezai atoned for immediately dropping serve, her fist-pumping celebration was matched by the thrilled reaction in the stands.

Petrova was marginally calmer than she had been on Friday though and, depsite admitting afterwards that she "heard some rude comments I wasn't happy about" from the crowd, she eventually prevailed 6-7 6-4 10-8 after two hours and 46 minutes of match time.

That leaves Rezai looking ahead to England, grass and a singnificantly lower profile, at least in the weeks ahead, but she does not plan on returning to obscurity any time soon.

"I think it's been a very good experience," she said. "It's kind of like my work paid off, so it's a gift to me. To be more popular is amazing, I like it a lot, and I know this is a chance for me to be even more popular here.

"I don't think it's more pressure. It's normal, we have to do it, it's part of our life. Pressure will always be there, before the match, during the match.

"To be more popular doesn't mean more pressure, it's because you worked before and it's the gift you get after lots of work and sacrifices."

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