Lois Boisson: from unknown to great home hope at Roland Garros
Handed a wildcard to enter the tournament, the 22-year-old hit the headlines in France on Monday when she kept home hopes alive by battling past third seed Jessica Pegula to reach the last eight.
That come-from-behind 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win in the fourth round meant the previously unheralded Boisson had become the first French player, male or female, to attain the quarter-final stage at Roland Garros since 2017.
She is the lowest-ranked woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since former top-20 player Kaia Kanepi did so at the 2017 US Open, and is the first to do so on debut at a major since Carla Suarez Navarro at Roland Garros in 2008.
Boisson's underdog story was hailed as a "fairytale at Roland Garros" by French daily Le Monde, while Le Figaro basked in her "incredible adventure".
Already the sole French representative left in the last 16 on either side of the draw, few gave the Dijon-native much chance of keeping the tricolore flying in Paris before her match against US world number three Pegula.
Stepping onto Court Philippe Chatrier for the first time to play a match, Boisson showed no signs of nerves as her ferocious forehand and the backing of the showpiece stadium's partisan crowd got her over the line against her much-fancied opponent.
"When I came on the court to do the warm-up, was, like, incredible for me. You know, I watch the stadium, and I told to myself 'Okay, I will play matches on this court, but it's okay. It's a court like every court'," said Boisson.
Although not quite at capacity at the start of the match, Boisson's fightback soon captured the Parisian spectators' attention.
"In the beginning, even though there weren't many, you can still hear them on centre court," she recounted. "But for the third set, it was full. It was incredible. As soon as a point was tight, it (the support) would be really incredible."
Despite this new-found fame, Boisson is adamant she won't let it go to her head as she stays focussed on her "dream" Roland Garros.
"During the tournament, I'm trying to stay in my bubble and not to see what's happening around me," she said. "No, things are not going to change for me. 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."
'Tough to swallow'
If mainstream notoriety is new to her, it is not the first time Boisson has had her name on the lips of the tennis world.
Last April, British player Harriet Dart generated a mini-social media storm when she was overheard asking the chair umpire to request Boisson apply deodorant during their match at a 250 event in Rouen.
Boisson laughed off the incident at the time, responding with a pithy request for a collaboration with a toiletries company, but now it's her playing that has people talking.
The daughter of a former professional basketballer, Boisson first picked up a racquet at the age of eight.
In early 2021, at the age of 17, she made her debut on the main circuit at the WTA 250 tournament in Lyon.
Eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the French Open in 2021, 2022 and 2023, she was a serious contender for an invitation to the main draw last year, after winning four clay-court tournaments on the secondary circuit in the spring of 2024.
But shortly prior to the start of the tournament, she ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.
"The injury was very tough to swallow," said Boisson, who missed nine months of action while on the treatment table.
A year later, she finds herself in the quarter-finals in Paris, where she will face the rising star of the woman's game and Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva with a chance to write her own chapter in French tennis history.
© 2025 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fashion Network
6 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Elsewhere in Milan menswear: Ralph Lauren, Brioni, Corneliani, Church's
Easily the most elegant accessory display in Milan this weekend was at Church's, which welcomed people into the Piccolo Teatro Studio Melato, an avant-garde brick theater with soaring tubular galleries. Pride of place went to a 1929 Shanghai model, first acquired in Cincinnati and donated to the brand by the son of a grateful customer. Designed as a halfway house between a tasseled golf shoe and a brogue, the original Shanghai No. 1 — carefully protected in a Perspex box — even had Church's logo cut-out soles. A look that helped inspire a great new selection of devilishly aged versions of the Shanghai for today. The key to any great pair of Church's is the brand's famed factory in Northampton, the shoemaking capital of the UK. Recently renovated, the plant is also the source of new shoes made in singular pieces of leather — where the pattern of wingtips is etched by lasers. Few shoe marques anywhere can provide the patina of a pair of Church's — a fact underlined by two gents hand-finishing some classic wingtips on the stage of the theatre. One trimmed the side with small sharp knives and sandpaper; the other applied French polish and mirror gloss from Saphir. Asked how best to shine a great pair of shoes, one gently explained: 'Actually, it's best to use old white T-shirts that have been washed plenty of times. The roughness and impurity are gone, and you get a great finish.'
Le Figaro
7 hours ago
- Le Figaro
Consent, Diversity, Prevention... A Look Back on France's Sex Education Film Festival
Réservé aux abonnés Organized by the association La Fabrique d'Images, the Festival of Film on Relationships and Sex Education (Ffevas) was primarily aimed at young audiences. Its goal: to raise awareness and promote prevention through short films. The first edition of the Festival of Film on Relationships and Sex Education ('Festival du film d'éducation à la vie affective et sexuelle,' Ffevas) came to a close recently in Amiens, northern France. According to its organizers, this is a unique initiative in France, aimed at schoolchildren, but also at families and adults. The small-scale, free-to-access festival screened short films on topics such as sexual diversity, consent, STI prevention, gender identity and gender equality. Ffevas proudly describes itself on its website as 'the first French short film festival dedicated to relationships and sex education.' The films were tailored to each audience: 350 middle school students were in attendance on the first day of the festival, 350 high school students on the second, and a parent-child screening for ages 9-12 was held on the closing day. Screenings were followed by discussions with filmmakers and interactive smartphone quizzes for young participants. 'Our association already works…
LeMonde
7 hours ago
- LeMonde
When a giant Pikachu drops into a French formal garden at a 'Pokémon Go Fest'
The yellow and black pointed ears of a Pikachu cap poked out from behind a cone-shaped tree; a floppy hat shaped like the Magikarp fish seemed ready to dive into a bubbling fountain; a man in a three-piece suit in Pokémon colors strolled along the geometric flowerbeds of a classic French garden. The arrival of thousands of Pokémon Go fans at Parc de Sceaux on Friday, June 13, recalled the excitement of July 2016, when Niantic released the title and players roamed city parks and gardens searching for Pokémon to capture on their smartphones. The game's community has remained active, as demonstrated by the hosting of a Pokémon Go Fest – an outdoor event dedicated to the augmented reality game – on the grounds of a château south of Paris, as well as on the streets of the French capital. Nearly 60,000 visitors were expected between June 13 and 15, according to Niantic. Registration, priced at around €20, allowed attendees to encounter rare Pokémon and the debut of Volcanion, a new addition to the game.
