Aravane Rezai |
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Aravane Rezai (Persian: ارغوان رضائی , Latin alphabet: Aravane Rezaï, born March 14, 1987) is an Iranian-French tennis player born in St. Etienne, France to Iranian parents. Rezaï took up tennis after a childhood stint as her older brother's ball girl. Her career high rank was #36, achieved on August 3, 2009.
She competed for Iran at the Women's Islamic Games winning Gold in 2001 and 2005.
For the second year in a row, Rezai lost in the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open. However, her French Open run was more successful. She struggled through to the third round of the tournament, defeating Ai Sugiyama of Japan along the way. She fell to Nicole Vaidisova, in a hard fought three-setter. Her Wimbledon dreams were also put on hold as she fell in the first round of qualifying. At the 2006 U.S. Open, she reached the fourth round, her career best Grand Slam singles result. She had a fantastic run, even beating Russian beauty Maria Kirilenko in straight sets.