France’s 361st-ranked Lois Boisson stuns Mirra Andreeva to reach French Open semi-finals

France's Lois Boisson during her French Open quarter-final match against Russia's Mirra Andreeva. PHOTO: REUTERS

UPDATED Jun 05, 2025, 12:45 AM

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PARIS – France’s Lois Boisson, ranked 361st in the world, was thrilled as she continued her dream run at the French Open on June 4 by defeating world No. 6 Mirra Andreeva to advance to the semi-finals.

The home favourite won an exciting battle 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 against her Russian opponent and advances to meet former US Open champion Coco Gauff on June 5 for a place in the final.

Significantly, Boisson is the lowest-ranked woman to reach a Major semi-final in 40 years, and the third woman to advance to this stage at a Grand Slam debut since 1980 – following Monica Seles in 1989 and Jennifer Capriati in 1990.

She is also the first Frenchwoman to reach the last four since Marion Bartoli in 2011.

“It was amazing to feel supported like this. There are no words to describe that feeling. Whatever the situation for me last year, it’s unbelievable to come from there,” said Boisson, who was due to play at the 2024 French Open but suffered a knee injury a week earlier.

“Thanks to all my team. I was so tense, I fought hard, the first set was very intense and at the beginning of the second set I was very tired. But I was able to recover.”

The Frenchwoman had won just one match on the WTA Tour before Roland Garros. Her ranking will jump from 361st to around 65th after this victory.

The 22-year-old had already eliminated American third seed Jessica Pegula on the red clay of Paris, with the wildcard entry extending her run against last season’s semi-finalist Andreeva.

“My routine won’t change, it’s been the same since the start of the tournament,” Boisson added of her preparation for the semi-finals.

She will take lessons from her match against Andreeva, however.

A dramatic first set saw the Russian miss a set point after leading 5-3, before Boisson fought back – only to see three chances of her own come and go in a marathon 12th game.

But the wild card fought off another set point in the tiebreak, before taking her next opportunity, cupping her ear towards the adoring crowd in celebration.

Andreeva gathered herself and quickly built a 3-0 lead in the second set, only to be left jumping up and down in anger after a missed backhand gave Boisson a much-needed hold of serve.

The 18-year-old started to crumble under the pressure and was given a warning for slamming a ball into the top tier of the stands as the atmosphere heated up under the Philippe-Chatrier roof.

She was roundly booed when she then argued with the umpire over a line call, and was broken later that game after another double fault to suddenly trail 4-3. Boisson made it six consecutive games to secure a seismic victory as Andreeva, one of the pre-tournament favourites, completely unravelled.

Earlier, Gauff, 21, battled back from a set down to beat Australian Open champion Madison Keys in their error-strewn quarter-final.

The second seed fought past her fellow American 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-1 in a tense match that was littered with a whopping 14 double faults and 101 unforced errors.

Gauff, the 2023 US Open winner, will face Boisson for a place in her second French Open final.

“It means a lot, especially getting through this tough match today, it wasn’t an easy match and I’m very happy to get through it,” she said.

“I’m so excited to be in the semi-finals back here again and have a lot more work to do. Just savour this one today and then next one tomorrow.”

She was the runner-up to Polish star Iga Swiatek in a one-sided showpiece match in 2022.

She will also be hoping to go at least one better than in 2024, when she was beaten – again by Swiatek – in the semi-finals. AFP, REUTERS

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