Cameron Norrie’s extended stint at the French Open came to an end against Lucas Pouille.

The British number three earned a stay of execution on Wednesday evening when he pinched the third set in near darkness, ensuring the match would have to continue into Thursday.

French number one Pouille led 2-1 overnight and served for the fourth set at 6-5 only for Norrie to hit back and force a tie-break.

But Pouille held his nerve and the 15th seed eventually prevailed 6-2 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7/3).

In contrast to the previous evening when he dropped serve in the first game, Norrie began confidently.

He won his opening three service games with the minimum of fuss, and when break points did come Pouille’s way at 3-3 Norrie saw them off, aided by a couple of wayward overheads by the home favourite.

At 5-4 Norrie, now practically matching Pouille stroke for fearsome stroke, worked himself a set point, but a booming ace put paid to it.

Lucas Pouille celebrates his hard-fought winLucas Pouille celebrates his hard-fought win (Thibault Camus/AP)

Pouille, with the home crowd now raucously behind him, then made his move and it looked decisive, breaking Norrie to 15.

Norrie was not going to disappear quietly, though, and he squandered two break points before nailing a third to force a tie-break.

The Brit felt harshly done by when, at 3-5, he dug out a winner only to be adjudged to have grazed the net with his racket.

That gave Pouille three match points but he only needed one to bring Norrie’s Roland Garros adventure to a close.