French Open: Unseeded Frenchwoman Boisson stuns Pegula and joins No. 2 Gauff in the quarterfinals

San Francisco Chronicle​

3 days ago

PARIS (AP) — Loïs Boisson had never played at the French Open, let alone in the biggest arena at Roland-Garros.
They didn't faze the French wild card.
Boisson, ranked 361st, threw her head back and roared after beating American No. 3 Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Monday's fourth-round play.
She is by far the lowest-ranked woman to beat someone ranked in the top five at the French Open in 40 years. The lowest previously in that span was No. 179 Aniko Kapros, who eliminated No. 5 Justine Henin in the first round in 2002.
Boisson also is the lowest-ranked woman to reach the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros since at least 1985.
Quite some victory, considering also Pegula was the U.S. Open runner-up last year. Understandably, Boisson was nervous as she served for the match and saved three break points.
After Pegula missed an easy-looking winner at the net and clutched her head in her hands, Boisson had her first match point, the biggest point of her career.
Pegula returned a strong serve to the back of the court where Boisson unleashed a brilliant forehand winner down the line. She then raised her arms and realized the enormity of her win.
''Thank you to all of you,'" Boisson told the crowd in her post-match interview. 'Playing on this court with such an atmosphere was really incredible.'
Boisson made the notoriously hard-to-please crowd laugh when she added: 'I'm really happy on here. I can stay a long time if you like.'
The crowd broke into chants of 'Loïs, Loïs" and she waved back to them.
She was in the news last month. British player Harriet Dart apologized to Boisson after asking the chair umpire to tell her to put some deodorant on. Now she's the only French player — male or female — left at Roland-Garros. But she feels comfortable on clay, having played on it regularly since taking up tennis when she was eight years old.
Asked what her ambitions were for the rest of the tournament — she plays sixth-seeded Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday in the quarterfinals — she replied, 'I hope to win, right?'
That prompted more laughter from the crowd, which included tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, who has been criticized by some for the lack of women players in night sessions.
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner was playing his fourth-round match later Monday in the night session against No. 17 Andrey Rublev, following 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic's match against Britain's Cameron Norrie.
What else happened?
In other women's fourth-round play, second-seeded Coco Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, won against No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-0, 7-5.
Over on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, the 18-year-old Andreeva, who reached the semifinals at Roland-Garros last year for her best performance at a major, won against No. 17 Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 6-3. She playfully threw her wristband at Andreeva when they came to the net and Andreeva joked she would keep it.
No. 7 Madison Keys advanced on Court Suzanne-Lenglen after beating Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5 in an all-American contest. There's another one coming for Keys against Gauff.
In remaining men's fourth-round play, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, last year's runner-up, was leading Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 3-0 when the unseeded Dutch player retired due to an abdominal strain.
Who is playing on Tuesday?
The quarterfinals are underway, with two men's matches and two women's matches, all on Court Philippe-Chatrier.