Semifinal bound: Boisson's magical Roland Garros continues with Andreeva upset
The clock hasn't struck midnight on this Cinderella yet. French wild card Lois Boisson View Profile 's run at Roland Garros will continue into the semifinals.
Two days after upsetting World No. 3 Jessica Pegula View Profile -- her first match against a Top 20 opponent -- Lois Boisson View Profile backed it up by beating No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva View Profile 7-6(6), 6-3. The Dijon native is the first French semifinalist at Roland Garros since Marion Bartoli in 2011, and the first wild card to do it in the Open Era.
Boisson pulled off a second straight upset in 2 hours and 8 minutes, rallying from behind in both sets. She trailed 3-1 and 5-3 in the first set -- eventually saving two set points -- to edge a tight tiebreak and kept cool as Andreeva unraveled from 3-0 ahead in the second to win the last six games.
With five wins in Paris, Boisson has added her name to recent history books in more ways than one. The 22-year-old is:
- The youngest French semifinalist at a Grand Slam event since former World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo -- now the Roland Garros tournament director -- at Wimbledon in 1999
- The second player in the past 40 years to beat multiple Top 10 opponents in her first Grand Slam main draw after Monica Seles in Paris in 1989
- The third player to reach the semifinals in her Grand Slam main-draw debut since 1980, following Seles and Jennifer Capriati who also did it at Roland Garros in 1989 and 1990, respectively
- The fourth player in the Open Era to reach her first tour-level semifinal at Roland Garros, and the third to do it in the past six years, following Clarisa Fernandez (2002), Nadia Podoroska (2020) and Andreeva (2024)
She’s assured of jumping nearly 300 spots in the PIF WTA Rankings. After reaching a career high of No. 152 last year -- before an ACL tear a week ahead of her expected Roland Garros debut -- Boisson is now guaranteed to rise to at least No. 68 on Monday. A win over No. 2 seed Coco Gauff View Profile in the semifinals would push her even higher.
"I don't really think about what will be next, you know, the ranking, Wimbledon, and everything," she told reporters afterward. "I just try to stay focus in this tournament now. I really enjoy everything that I leave here on the court and outside the court. So I will see this after. For now I just have to prepare the match of tomorrow.
"I think every kids who play tennis have the dream to win a slam. More for French player to win Roland Garros, for sure. So, yeah, it's a dream. For sure I will go for the dream, because my dream is to win it, not to be in the semifinal. So I will try to do my best for it."
An unseeded player has reached the Roland Garros final twice in the past four years: eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova View Profile in 2021 and Karolina Muchova View Profile in 2023.
