Heart-warming French fairytale: Wild-card Lois Boisson's dream run continues

Indian Express

2 days ago

A year ago, Lois Boisson was on the verge of a career breakthrough. After a first title at the WTA 125 level (one rung lower than the full tour), she reached a career-high ranking of World No. 152 and was slated to make her Grand Slam debut in her home Major at Roland Garros.
Instead, the fortnight was spent in hospital rooms as the then 21-year-old tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the week leading up to the tournament. As she spent much of 2025 tumbling down the rankings, only returning from her injury four months ago, the opportunity seemed to have passed her. In a year that has seen nothing of note in French women's tennis – with only two women remaining in the top 100 – Boisson was handed another shot in the form of a wildcard for this year's clay Slam.
But on Wednesday, the punt turned into a fairytale. The World No. 361 defeated the rising 18-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva, the sixth seed, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a gutsy display in which she resolutely held her nerve and stuck to her power baseline game, to reach the semifinals of the French Open. It was her second upset in three days, after she knocked out third seeded American Jessica Pegula, coming back from a one-set deficit, in the fourth round on Monday.
6 GAMES IN A ROW TO REACH THE SEMI-FINALS FOR LOIS BOISSON 🔥#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/MLPBookvlt
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2025
The 22-year-old native of the small, inland city of Dijon endeared herself to sports fans all over the country by becoming the first French woman to reach the semifinals at her home Slam since Marion Bartoli in 2011. She is the youngest French player to reach the last four at a Major since Amelie Mauresmo – tournament director of the French Open now – in 1999. Entering the tournament as the 24th best French woman according to the rankings, she will leave as France No. 1, guaranteed to rise to at least World No. 65.
Multiple other historical achievements tumbled with her performance on Wednesday, only to essay just how unlikely this feat is. She is the lowest-ranked semifinalist at a Major since 2017. Boisson is only the third player to have ever reached the semifinal on Grand Slam debut, after both Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati also did so at Roland Garros in 1980 and 1999 respectively. She is the first-ever wildcard semifinalist at the French Open since the Open Era began in 1968.
After the match, Boisson would profusely thank the home crowd that roared behind her relentlessly through the course of the topsy-turvy encounter that lasted over two hours. 'It's incredible. Thank you for supporting me like this — I have no words,' she said on court.
'I ran a bit too much because I was so tense early on. But I fought hard in that first set, which was so intense. At the start of the second, I felt a little empty, but I hung in there and finished the job,' she added.
Lois Boisson 🆚 Coco Gauff, who will make the final? #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/shWsnvnPhi
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2025
Boisson had run Pegula ragged on Monday, doing much damage with her superior forehand. Her tendency to run around her backhand and hit the diagonal inside-out forehands made Pegula struggle, and even when Andreeva did get a read on those, the Frenchwoman's ability to take the same shot down the line sent her opponent into a tizzy.
She started slowly, down 1-3 and 3-5 in the first set before resetting and taking a tight first set into a tiebreaker. Andreeva, unquestionably incensed at not taking her opportunities in the first set, blinked first, and Boisson took the opener.
But after Andreeva launched into a 3-0 lead in the second, it was her superior experience, despite her younger age, that looked to be the teller. That was until the crowd got involved and willed their home hero on, often disrupting her opponent and raising the pressure every time errors leaked from that side of the court. Once Boisson had equalled scores at 3-3 in the second, the match was on her racquet, and she did not disappoint, rounding out six games in a row to take the win.
The fairytale run will be given another shot at continuance in the semifinal against the second seed, Coco Gauff, in the semifinal on Thursday. With a vociferous crowd willing her on, and a huge gust of momentum behind her, it won't quite be the one-sided offensive it looks like on paper.