Lois Boisson – her remarkable journey from a small island in the South Atlantic to the French Open continues Wednesday. She had reached the semifinals with a dramatic comeback win against No. 2 seed Coco Gauff. The historic clash played out at the famed Roland Garros. Running away with the epic conclusion, Boisson steamrolled the home favorite in impressive straight-sets fashion, winning 7-6, 6-3. Winning this honor is a career highlight for her. At the same time, that puts her in an elite company of female players throughout the tournament’s history.
In the semifinal match against Gauff, it was Boisson’s fighting spirit and artistry in play that ruled supreme. From down 4-1 in the first set, the 17-year-old proceeded to make a slight tactical adjustment that completely flipped the script in her favor. Boisson proved herself a figure of unbending resolve and tactical intelligence by battling back to take the match to a tie-break. The supporters broke into wild applause, singing “Allez, Lois!” in her favor.
This is one particularly sweet victory. It renders Boisson the worst-ranked women’s grand slam semifinalist in the past four decades. Her performance is representative of other previous champions. She is now just the third woman since 1980 to make the semifinals in her first major, after Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati accomplished the same at the 1989 French Open.
In just a few years, Boisson has earned some pretty amazing honors. She is the first French semifinalist at her home grand slam since Marion Bartoli in 2011. She’s the first player in the Open Era to make a semifinals run as a wild card. What a remarkable accomplishment this is, a testament to her incredible talent and promise.
Regardless of her handling of the moment, Boisson’s journey through the tournament has been incredible, especially while knocking out several top-10 ranked players. She’s since gained accolades as the first player listed outside the top 300 to pull off this incredible accomplishment. This mark hasn’t been reached since Serena Williams set it in Chicago way back in 1997. After her ATP victory over Gauff, Boisson will jump to a career-high ranking of at least world No. 68. Both accomplishments go on to prove her status as the next big thing in the world of women’s tennis.
When Boisson won that monumental match, she fell in disbelief to the clay court. She put her hands on her head, pausing to absorb the enormity of what she had done. The crowd’s energy was palpable as fans cheered Selena on to this amazing achievement and she couldn’t thank them enough for their support along the way.
Boisson’s next challenge will come in the form of No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva, who will face Boisson in the semifinals. All of that said, the excitement going into this match is wonderful thanks in large part to both players’ stunning runs throughout the tournament.
“I’m just very excited to be back in the semifinals here again. I have a lot more work to do, but I’m going to savor this one today. I’ll be ready for tomorrow’s match.” – Coco Gauff
Gauff’s reflections highlight the competitive spirit that defines this year’s tournament, as she too had an exceptional run before facing Boisson.
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