World No 361 Lois Boisson stuns third seed Jessica Pegula to reach French Open quarter-finals
French wildcard Lois Boisson beat third seed Jessica Pegula to reach the French Open quarter-finals and send shockwaves around Roland Garros.
The 22-year-old, ranked 361 in the world, stunned American Pegula 3-6 6-4 6-4 in front of a delirious Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd.
Boisson's only real claim to fame prior to this year's tournament was being the player Britain's Harriet Dart complained to an umpire abou t, saying 'tell her to wear deodorant'.
But she came up smelling of roses on Monday afternoon after a famous win in the French capital.
It was an emotional victory for Boisson, who was due to make her debut in Paris last year only to suffer a serious knee injury a fortnight before the tournament which kept her out of action for nine months.
She will meet Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, the sixth seed, in the last eight.
'I don't know what to say, but thank you. Playing on this court in such a great atmosphere, it was incredible," Boisson, who will add at least £369,000 to her career total of £15,500 in prize money, said on court.
"I knew I could do it but I knew she was super strong but after a while I realised it was a proper contest."
PA
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Leader Live
19 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Carlos Alcaraz to defend French Open title in final as Lorenzo Musetti retires
Italian Musetti won the first set and was playing some exquisite tennis under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier. But the 23-year-old had treatment on his leg during a one-sided third set and called it a day after Alcaraz won nine games in a row with the score 4-6 7-6 (3) 6-0 2-0. There were echoes of a match here four years ago when Musetti retired against Novak Djokovic at 4-0 down in the fifth, later saying he was not injured but that he quit because he was 'not able to win a point'. Alcaraz, who will bid for a fifth grand slam title on Sunday, said: 'It is never great getting through like this. 'Lorenzo is a great player. He has had an incredible clay season. He's one of the few players who has achieved the semi-finals. I wish him all the best and a quick recovery. 'The first two sets were really tough. I had chances to break his serve in the match and I couldn't make the most of it. 🧡 — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2025 'He was playing great tennis. When I won the second set, there was relief. In the third I knew what I had to do – pushing him to the limit and trying to be aggressive. 'I was more calm and I could see this more clearly and I could play great tennis.' An exciting match looked on the cards when at 5-4 Musetti, who had not previously threatened the Alcaraz serve, suddenly broke to take the first set. Alcaraz served for the second set but the tension he was feeling was palpable as Musetti broke straight back. A sad ending to a thrilling encounter 💔 Alcaraz is back in the Roland-Garros final as Musetti is forced to retire. #RolandGarros — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2025 However, Alcaraz reset in the tie-break and, although Musetti saved two set points, he dumped a third into the net. Musetti planted his hand onto his face after a bad miss handed the initiative to Alcaraz, who grabbed the early break in the third. Suddenly the shackles were off for Alcaraz while Musetti was labouring, winning just five points as the set disappeared over the horizon. The eighth seed had received treatment on his left leg but was still clearly hindered and when Alcaraz broke for 2-0 in the fourth, he decided he had had enough.
BBC News
28 minutes ago
- BBC News
World Oceans Day 2025: What is this year's theme?
Sunday 8 June is World Oceans Day. A time to celebrate and raise awareness of issues affecting the world's theme for World Oceans Day 2025 is "Wonder: Sustaining what sustains us", which event organisers say aims to celebrate the wonder and awe that the ocean inspires in us, and the important role that wonder plays in encouraging curiosity, scientific knowledge, exploration, and innovation.A big event will be hosted in Nice, in France, on 8 June, ahead of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference which takes place between 9 – 13 June, is everything you need to know about World Oceans Day and the most important issues facing oceans around the globe today. What is World Oceans Day? On 8 June every year since 1992, the United Nations (UN) has designated a special day marking the importance of the world's call it World Oceans marking it take place across the world and more than 100 countries take part in the 2020, the event called for world leaders to commit to protecting 30% of our oceans by 2030 - in the hope that if that happens it will help combat climate change and protect marine biodiversity. Each year a different theme is year, the theme was Awaken New Depths, focusing on changing our relationship with the seas to ensure the ocean's health and UN holds a live event with special guests discussing topics from the seas to special guests, like actor Jason Momoa who plays Aquaman, are invited to talk too. Why are oceans under threat? According to research released in 2023, oceans across the world have reached record high temperatures, and 2024 was the warmest year on are now warmer than at any other time in recorded human history and the increase in temperature has been directly linked to global believe that human activities - such as the burning of fossil fuels and emissions from factories - are having a bad effect on global temperatures, causing harmful gases to be released into the atmosphere. Those gases end up in the Earth's atmosphere and trap more of the Sun's heat, which then increases the Earth's sea temperatures have a huge effect on sea life and many animals and plants are struggling to adapt. Plastic pollution: How much plastic is in our oceans? There is also the big issue of plastic waste in 2019, the World Wide Fund for Nature - which is the world's largest wildlife and conversation charity - said plastic pollution was causing an environmental than 75% of all plastic ever produced is already pollution kills wildlife, damages natural ecosystems, and contributes to climate change. The problem with plastic is that most of it is not biodegradable. That means it doesn't rot, like paper or food, so instead it can hang around in the environment and take hundreds of years to break than eight million tonnes of plastic enters the world's oceans each year and most of that escapes from 171 trillion pieces of plastic are now thought to be floating in the world's oceans, according to scientists. Ideas for how to celebrate World Oceans Day Although World Oceans Day is an important day to learn more about the crisis state our oceans are in, it is also a day to celebrate oceans that take up 70% of our are some things you can do on the day:You could make some marine themed art. If you fancy making a fish decoration to keep after World Oceans Day is over, check out how to make your very own moving we know how much plastic ends up in our oceans, why not try to avoid using single-use plastics like carrier bags, straws and bottles and switch to reusable and refillable ones instead? Here are some more useful tips on how to cut down on the plastic in your not try eating vegetarian food for a day? There are lots of delicious recipes that don't contain fish or seafood. You could even try this vegan recipe generator to come up with an idea for your next you're lucky enough to live by a beach, why not take part in a beach clean-up event? This way you can do your bit by collecting rubbish that could make its way into the finally, you can learn as much as you can about our oceans and how to protect them.
The Guardian
36 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Carlos Alcaraz battles past Lorenzo Musetti to reach French Open final
Carlos Alcaraz continued his imperious march through the clay-court season as he reached his second consecutive French Open final by defeating Lorenzo Musetti, the eighth seed, who was forced to retire with a left thigh injury while Alcaraz led 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 2-0. After a difficult start to the year, the 22-year-old has found his way in a clay-court season that has yielded Masters 1000 titles in Monte Carlo and Rome. He will now attempt to become the third man this century after Rafael Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten to defend a French Open title. Alcaraz, the second seed in Paris, is also the fifth youngest man in the open era to reach five grand slam finals and he will attempt to extend his record to winning all of them. He is won 21 matches and lost once on clay this year. Alcaraz will face either Jannik Sinner, the world No 1, or the 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic in the final. 'I'm not going to miss it,' said Alcaraz of the second semi-final. 'This match is one of the best match-ups we have in tennis right now, Sinner against Djokovic. It's going to be great tennis. As a huge fan of tennis, I'm going to watch it, I'm going to enjoy it. Of course, I'm going to take tactics from the match.' Although the Spaniard was in the favourable half of the draw, away from Novak Djokovic and others, Musetti has established himself as one of the toughest opponents in the sport. The pair have spent much of their young lives competing against each other after coming up through the junior circuit together. Although Musetti, also 23, enjoyed a greater junior career, Alcaraz established himself at the top of the sport faster than most players in history. Over the past year, the Italian has finally made a significant leap forward. Last year, he reached his first grand slam semi-final at Wimbledon and won an Olympic bronze medal at Roland Garros. He followed those breakthrough results with a remarkable clay-court season this year, reaching his first Masters 1000 final in Monte Carlo and then rolling to the semi-finals in Madrid and Rome. After playing and winning so many matches recently, the physical challenge presented by Alcaraz proved a step too far. In this era of rigid, one-note baseliners, Musetti's style is as distinct as Alcaraz's. He peppers opponents with his variety of shots, including backhand slices, drop shots, net forays, and a sweet single-handed backhand. He is also a brilliant athlete and one of the very best movers. Their shared creativity made for a wonderful, quality spectacle for two and a half sets on Court Philippe-Chatrier, where no two shots either player struck were the same. Hannah Klugman has become the first British player to reach the French Open juniors final in almost 50 years. The 16-year-old from Kingston-upon-Thames battled through to her maiden grand slam final after a gritty 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over the Bulgarian Rositsa Dencheva. Klugman is the first Briton to achieve the feat since Michelle Tyler claimed the title in 1976, the same year Sue Barker won the women's event. Klugman will face 17-year-old Austrian Lilli Tagger in Saturday's final. Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski are through to the final of the men's doubles. The confidence and momentum Musetti has built in recent weeks was immediately evident. He started the match playing fearless, varied attacking tennis, serving well, attacking his forehand and searching for opportunities to close down the net. He outsmarted and outmanoeuvred Alcaraz, who prides himself on his ability to disrupt his opponents, throughout the opening set. Alcaraz had to be patient as he tried to turn the match around. He failed to consolidate his early break in set two, immediately handing the break back, then he also failed to serve out the set at 6-5. While he lost his focus on key points, he also had to accept that his opponent's stellar level caused much of his misfortune. Despite his issues, Alcaraz saved his best stretch of tennis for the most critical point of the match, blazing through a brilliant tie-break to take the second set. With that, Alcaraz opened his shoulders and began to consistently impose his greater weight of shot. He grew in confidence behind his serve and struck his forehand spectacularly from then on, tearing Musetti's brilliant defence apart: 'He was playing great tennis,' said Alcaraz. 'When I won the second set, it was a little bit of a relief. In the third set, I knew what I had to do, just to push him to the limit. Just trying to be aggressive, not let him dominate the game and just being myself. I was more calm, I could see things more clearly and I played great tennis at the beginning of the third set.' However, as Alcaraz gained momentum in the third set, Musetti gradually began to slow down. Down 5-0, the match falling away from him, the Italian received a medical timeout for his left thigh. He lasted only three more games before he decided he could no longer continue.
