French tennis is in big trouble. If you were to ask most French people which of their compatriots is the last to have won a big tournament, many of them would harken back almost a quarter of a century and say: "Yannick Noah - French Open 1983".

Perhaps a few of the more knowledgeable would be a bit more on the ball and recall that only a few months ago, Amelie Mauresmo actually won a Grand Slam. But they would be hard pushed to say which one.

But there are so many others who have garnered success. Remember Mary Pierce winning the Australian Open in 1995 and the French Open in 2000? Or Nicolas Escudé and his teammates, who won Davis Cup in Australia in 2001? Or Arnaud Di Pasquale winning his Olympic bronze medal (by beating no other than Roger Federer) at the 2000 Games in Sydney? But all these are a fleeting memory completely forgotten by the French man and woman in the street.

In order to be a big tennis star in France, it is better to be a loser. Just don't win when it counts most!
French people don't like winners. They all remember and lament Cédric Pioline's tears in Nice in 1999, when big-serving Aussie Mark Philippoussis stole "our" Davis Cup, which was there for the taking.

They also remember Paul-Henri Mathieu's tears when we lost in the 2002 final to Russia in Bercy. We French love Marat Safin, but his team-mate Mikhail Youzhny didn't get good publicity back home when he clinched Russia's first Davis Cup.

Last week French fans again shared in the suffering of their tennis players at the $600,000 Open Gaz de France WTA event in Paris. But even in the small tournaments -- this was a tier two event below the level of the top women's tournaments -- we lack players to take advantage of playing on home soil.