Homeland hero: French wild card Boisson stuns Pegula at Roland Garros
France will be represented in the Roland Garros quarterfinals after all, following a stunning comeback upset by one of the lowest-ranked players to ever make it this far at a Grand Slam event.
Lois Boisson, the 22-year-old wild card ranked No. 361, shocked No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula
"I [would] not believe that if you tell me that two weeks ago," Boisson said afterwards. "I trust in myself, but yeah, for sure, if you say that, no, I can't believe. Now it's that, and I'm so happy about it."
Contesting her first Grand Slam main draw and only her second tour-level event, Boisson pulled off a historic run in her national capital. The last time a Frenchwoman made it into the Roland Garros singles quarterfinals was 2017, when both Caroline Garcia
Boisson is the lowest-ranked woman to make a Grand Slam quarterfinal since former Top 20 player Kaia Kanepi reached the 2017 US Open quarterfinals ranked No. 418. Boisson is also the first woman to make the quarterfinals of her Grand Slam main-draw debut since Carla Suarez Navarro made the last eight here in 2008 as a qualifier.
"For the match point, I really felt very tense, and when I saw that my forehand was a winner, well, the whole pressure went off," Boisson told the French press. "I was just so happy to win and to be able to play the quarterfinals."
Andreeva awaits: Boisson is now 1-0 against Top 20 players in her career -- her match against World No. 3 Pegula was her first-ever meeting with a player ranked inside that echelon.
Things won't get any easier for the wild card: another of the world's Top 10 players will be Boisson's quarterfinal opponent. She will have her first meeting with No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva
Regardless, Boisson will reach a career-high ranking after the tournament. She is projected to rise to around No. 120 after this win (WTA 125 results from this week could shift that a few spots). Another upset win in the quarterfinals could push Boisson as high as No. 68 in the PIF WTA Rankings.
"Things are not going to change for me," Boisson said. "They're going to continue in the same way. It's just that my ranking will enable me to play larger, more important tournaments. That's the only thing that's going to change."
French twist: Boisson was the only French player in either the women's or men's singles draws to make it into the Round of 16. And now her fairytale run will continue after her comeback in Monday's match -- which echoes her comeback from an ill-timed injury.
Boisson was projected to receive a Roland Garros main-draw wild card last year after winning her first WTA 125 title on home soil in Saint-Malo. However, before last year's Roland Garros started, Boisson suffered an ACL injury that kept her off tour for nine months.
Back in action in 2025, Boisson made her WTA main-draw debut on home soil in Rouen, reaching the second round. This fortnight, she got her year-delayed Roland Garros wild card to make her Grand Slam main-draw debut. And she backed it all up, beating Elise Mertens
After four straight three-set wins, Boisson is now flying the tricolore for the home nation all the way into her first tour-level quarterfinal, at a Grand Slam no less.
"It's absolutely great to be in the quarterfinals," Boisson said. "My hope is to have as many French people in that level in the coming years. It represents a lot to be in the quarterfinals here, and as I said, I hope to go even further."
Match moments: Pegula's experience wore down the Grand Slam first-timer at the end of the opening set. Pegula cranked a forehand crosscourt winner to break for 4-3, and the American ended up winning ten of the last 11 points to take the one-set lead.
But Boisson kept pace with the No. 3 seed, using her heavy forehand well on the clay. Of the players remaining in the draw at the start of the day, Boisson had the most topspin on her forehand this event (by contrast, Pegula had the least).
Boisson also regularly found passing and lob winners to chip away at Pegula's advantage. In a perfectly constructed point, Boisson fired a rally backhand crosscourt to break for 5-4, then routinely held serve to tie the match at one set apiece.
In a back-and-forth third set, Boisson took control by converting her fourth break point of a tense 4-4 game. Serving for the match at 5-4, Boisson faced four break points herself, but she refused to yield, finishing off the shocking upset.
Boisson is the first player to reach her first WTA Tour-level quarterfinal at a Grand Slam event since Emma Raducanu
