Who is Lois Boisson? World 361st-ranked player reaches French Open semifinals

USA Today

3 days ago

Who is Lois Boisson? World 361st-ranked player reaches French Open semifinals
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Jessica Pagula on accomplished Coco Gauff, Emma Navarro, Madison Keys
Tennis player Jessica Pegula discusses how amazing it is to have other amazing American women in tennis dominating the sport.
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There has never been a Grand Slam run quite like this.
Lois Boisson, who came into the French Open ranked No. 361 in the world, reached the semifinals on Wednesday after a 7-6, 6-3 upset of No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva. That was Boisson's second straight shocker, having taken out No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula on Monday.
She will face American Coco Gauff, the No. 2 seed, in Thursday's semifinal.
There's not a lot of precedent for what Boisson, a 22-year old Frenchwoman, has done in her Grand Slam singles debut.
Since 1980, only two other players – Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati – have made the semifinals in their first major.
From a rankings perspective, though, this is an even more surprising run.
In 2017, Kaia Kanepi was became the lowest-ranked player at No. 418 to reach a Slam quarterfinal at the U.S. Open before her run ended against Madison Keys.
On the men's side, Mark Edmonson was ranked No. 212 when he improbably won the Australian Open in 1976 – though the tournament at that time rarely attracted top players from outside of Australia.
And, of course, there's the 2021 U.S. Open when Emma Raducanu came out of qualifying to win the title ranked No. 150 in the world, though the situation was a bit different since the 18-year old Raducanu had flashed quite a bit of talent a couple months earlier reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Boisson, however, really had no track record on the WTA Tour – and particularly playing at this level.
Here are three things to know about the most captivating story at this year's French Open:
Lois Boisson was part of a viral controversy earlier this year
At a WTA 250-level tournament in Rouen, France in April, Boisson defeated Britain's Harriet Dart 6-0, 6-3. The match would not have gotten much attention except for the fact that a flustered Dart asked the umpire if she could direct Boisson to wear deodorant. "She smells really bad," Dart said. A video clip of the moment blew up on social media, with Boisson responding in a lighthearted manner, posting an image of herself on Instagram with a deodorant stick photoshopped over a tennis ball.
Lois Boisson's life and career will change immediately
Before this tournament, the biggest accomplishment of Boisson's career was a WTA 125-level title in Saint Malo, France last year. For that effort, she earned a payday of $13,040. But that was big stakes compared to the prize money Boisson has been playing for since turning pro, traveling through the minor-league levels in Europe.
Before the French Open, Boisson's total prize money in 2025 was $21,100. Now, even with a semifinal loss, she will take home a little more than $784,000 and rocket up to 65 in the world rankings. That's significant, as it means Boisson will automatically qualify for nearly any tournament she wants to enter over the coming months – including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open where even first-round losses are worth close to six figures.
There were some signs of talent before an injury
Last spring, Boisson was starting to break through, winning 23 of 24 matches and reaching a career high of No. 152 in the rankings. As a result, the French Tennis Federation had awarded Boisson a wildcard into Roland Garros – but she was unable to play after tearing her left ACL shortly before the tournament.
Boisson returned to competition after nine months of rehab and started to show some form at the ITF-level, reaching a final and winning a title in her last tournament before the French Open. Of course, the competition was significantly lower as the highest-ranked player she beat in that event was No. 141.
The native of Dijon, France went unnoticed when the Roland Garros draw came out but quickly established herself with an upset of No. 24 Elise Mertens in the first round. Still, when Boisson drew Pegula in the round of 16 she had never faced a top-10 player much less beaten one.
Now, she'll have an opportunity to knock off another one with a rowdy French crowd behind her Thursday when she faces Gauff.