French Wild Card Boisson Is The Cinderella Of Roland-Garros

Lois Boisson, Roland Garros
Lois Boisson (photo: Roland-Garros video/YouTube)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, June 2, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Until Monday afternoon, host country France had very little to cheer about during this year’s Parisian tennis fortnight at Roland-Garros. Among the disappointments, both Caroline Garcia and Richard Gasquet bowed in their final French Open appearances last week before heading off to retirement. Then, French No. 1 Arthur Fils withdrew after suffering a stress fracture during his exciting five-set, third-round victory on Friday.

However, all of the first-week sadness changed amid a crazy atmosphere that permeated inside the French Open’s biggest show court.

Imagine everyone’s surprise when the last French player standing in either men’s or women’s singles draw, 361st-ranked wild card Lois Boisson, pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament and secured the biggest win of her life by defeating World No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in two hours and 40 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The 22-year-old’s heavy inside-out forehand winner – capping a three-shot rally – was the capstone moment of a breathtaking fourth-round victory. It came shortly after Boisson converted her fourth chance to break the No. 3-seeded Pegula for a 5-4 lead in the final set. Then, while trying to serve out the match, she fought off four break points and eventually held her own serve.

The outcome stunned Pegula, 31, while Boisson – clearly the crowd favorite – fed off the sometimes-deafening roar of the partisan French fans. She raised her arms in victory and let out a big roar. Boisson truly had done something wild and unpredictable. After coming back from a major knee injury – she damaged her anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee a year ago, which sidelined her for nine months – suddenly, her fitness was her ally. What a difference a year has made for Boisson, a native of Dijon, in eastern France.

Playing in just her first Grand Slam main draw – and only her second WTA Tour-level event – Boisson has put together a historic run in Paris that has included victories over No. 24 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, No. 133 Angelina Kalinina of Ukraine, and fellow French wild card Elsa Jacquemot, ranked 138th. By winning her fourth-round tussle over Pegula, she’s the first Frenchwoman to reach the Roland-Garros quarterfinals since 2017, when both Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic made the last eight.

Among the other accolades achieved by Boisson, she’s the lowest-ranked woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since former Top-20 player Kaia Kaneipi of Estonia advanced to the 2017 US Open quarterfinals while ranked 418th. Boisson is also the first woman to reach the quarterfinals of her first Grand Slam main draw since Carla Suarez Navarro in 2008 as a qualifier, and she’s the first French wild card to reach the Roland-Garros quarterfinals since Mary Pierce in 2002. Très magnifique!

“I really don’t know what to say. … Thank you,” Boisson said during her on-court interview, translated from French. “Playing on this court with such an atmosphere was incredible. Thank you. I knew I could do it but she’s super strong. When I saw that there was match, I gave everything I had. It’s incredible.” 

Later, during her post-match news conference, Boisson spoke about her run to the quarterfinals: “I [would] not believe that if you tell me that two weeks ago,” Boisson said. “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.”

After the loss, Pegula said in her post-match news conference: “It was a really great atmosphere, I felt like the crowd was really good. They were being supportive but I felt respectful at the same time. I think [the atmosphere] helped her pull through at certain parts that were really tough. I’m disappointed by the result. I had a million chances and it just didn’t go my way.”

Next, Boisson, who is 1-0 against Top 20-ranked players in her career, will face another one in World No. 6 and sixth seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia, a semifinalist in Paris a year ago.

Monday on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, Andreeva became the youngest player to reach back-to-back quarterfinals since Martina Hingis in 1997-98 with her 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 17 seed Daria Kasatkina of Australia, in which she came back from 5-3 down in the second set and saved a set point.

Andreeva won the 94-minute fourth-round match 6-3, 7-5 over Kasatkina by hitting 28 winners, converting four of seven break points and outscoring her opponent 75-61.

“I knew today we would have a lot of long points,” Andreeva said during her post-match news conference. “I felt like she reads where I’m going to play. She knew when I’m going to hit a drop-shot, which side, and I felt like I was running from corner to corner a lot.

“Of course, it’s not a nice feeling, but this match was very intense. I’m happy that I managed to keep playing the game and win the match in the end.”

Milestone victory for Djokovic

Three-time Roland-Garros champion Novak Djokovic earned his 100th win at the Paris major – the first time he’s won at least 100 matches at any of the four Grand Slam events – with his measured 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over 81st-ranked Cameron Norrie of Great Britain in two hours and 14 minutes on Court Philipp-Chatrier.

The win advanced the Serbian start into the Roland-Garros quarterfinals for the 16 consecutive year. He’s just the second player behind Rafael Nadal (112) to record 100 wins at the French Open.

“It’s a very pretty number, but 101 victories sounds better,” Djokovic said during his on-court interview. “I will continue to search for another victory; it’s clearly not finished for me here. I’m very honored to make history in this sport, which has given me everything in my life.”

In improving to 19-0 in fourth-round matches at Roland-Garros, Djokovic hit 26 winners made 28 unforced errors, won 66 percent (19 of 29) of his net-point exchanges and converted seven of 11 break points. He outpointed Norrie 95-64.

Gauff leads pair of Americans into quarterfinals

Coco Gauff advanced to her fifth straight Roland-Garros quarterfinal – and ninth major quarterfinal overall – after defeating No. 20 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, 6-0, 7-5, in one hour and 22 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The 21-year-old American became the fourth-youngest player in the Open Era to achieve five consecutive French Open last eights, following 20-year-old Martina Hingis (1997-2001), 20-year-old Steffi Graf (1986-1990) and 21-year-old Conchita Martinez (1989-1993). Gauff was a finalist in Paris in 2022.

After making back-to-back finals in Madrid and Rome in the run up to the French Open, Gauff improved her win-loss record on clay to 15-3 – and 28-8 overall – by upping the level of her game from start to finish. She won 12 of the final 16 points of the match and has beaten Alexandrova in four of the five times they’ve faced each other.

“She stepped up her game in the second,” Gauff said during her on-court interview. “Some balls I hit a good shot and she would hit a winner on the line. If she wins like that, I can keep my head up high, so overall I thought I played great.”

Gauff finished with 14 winners to 17 unforced errors, compared to 14 winners and 33 unforced errors by her opponent. She converted five of nine break points and outpointed Alexandrova 72-50.

Next, Gauff will face No. 7 seed Madison Keys, who ended the run of American upstart Hailey Baptiste, ranked 70th, 6-3, 7-5, in an hour and 34 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Keys completed a hat-trick of reaching the French Open quarterfinals by hitting seven aces, winning 76 percent (34 of 45) of her first-serve points, hitting 26 winners to 18 unforced errors, and converted three of seven break points. She outpointed Baptiste 78-61.

It was the third win for Keys in four meetings against Baptiste in a series that goes back to 2019 and the 30-year-old American from Illinois now has won 11 straight Grand Slam matches, which began with her run at the Australian Open in January. She’s now the oldest player to win 10-plus consecutive major matches since Serena Williams won 16 in a row between the 2017 Australian Open and 2018 Wimbledon Championships.

“Hailey is such an amazing player so it’s amazing to see her do so well,” Keys said during her on-court interview. “It was such a tough second set today, so I really just had to kind of make as many balls as possible and hit some great shots. Also, to just try to stay tough and make every game as long as I could and stay in as many opportunities as I could. I’m really happy to get that done in straight sets.”

Among the Americans in attendance watching Keys are friends and mentors, including Billie Jean King Cup teammate Sloane Stephens, who is commentating for TNT Sports, and BJK Cup team captain Lindsay Davenport. “We have a lot of great players who are constantly helping us – inspiring us – and if we ever have any questions or need any help, it’s so great to be such great friends with all these amazing players.”

Looking ahead to her quarterfinal with Gauff, Keys praised her fellow American and opponent. “I think she’s an unbelievable player, such a great athlete. It’s going to be really tough. She’s obviously done really well here, making the finals. I’m looking forward to [playing her] and happy there will be an American in the semifinals.”

Bublik stuns Draper: ‘Best moment of my life!’

Alexander Bublik’s breakthrough moment at a Grand Slam came Monday evening on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, when after two hours and 34 minutes of dramatic and entertaining tennis, he stunned No. 5 seed Jack Draper to reach his first major quarterfinal. It earned him arguably his greatest pro victory – and it brought him to tears, both after celebrating victory once he secured match point and, again, during his on-court interview with Eurosport’s Alex Corretja.

The 62nd-ranked Bublik upset the World No. 5 Draper from Great Britain, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, to become the first Kazakh man to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal. He’s the lowest-ranked man to earn two Top-10 wins at Roland-Garros since Andrei Medvedev accomplished the feat in 1999, then ranked No. 100, when he beat Pete Sampras and Gustavo Kuerten.

Bublik’s four wins during this Parisian fortnight have moved close to reaching the Top 40.

“Sometimes in life there’s only one chance, and I had a feeling that that was mine, and I couldn’t let it slip,” the 27-year-old Bublik, who had never advanced past the second round at Roland-Garros, said in an emotional on-court interview. He spoke after receiving a full minute’s standing ovation from the fans who filled Court Suzanne-Lenglen. “Standing here, it’s the best moment of my life, period.”

Bublik won 81 percent (62 of 77) of his first-serve points, hit eight aces and 68 winners overall, converted five of six break points and outpointed Draper 125-110. Draper counted with 37 winners – including 12 aces – but made 25 unforced errors. At the end, it was Draper, who offered Bublik a hug and huge congratulations at the net.

With a day to soak in the glory of his unlikely achievement, Bublik will face World No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy, in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday. Sinner advanced with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 17 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, in two hours Monday evening on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The victory, which improved his 2025 win-loss record to 16-1, extended Sinner’s Grand Slam winning streak to 18 matches, the ninth-longest streak in the Open Era. He’s through to his sixth straight major quarterfinal.

Sinner finished with 25 winners to 19 unforced errors, compared to 24 winners and 39 unforced errors for Rublev. He converted five of eight break points and outpointed the Russian 94-63 in reaching back-to-back quarterfinals in Paris – and his third Roland-Garros quarterfinal overall.

Around Stade Roland-Garros

No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev advanced to his seventh Roland-Garros quarterfinal in the last eight years – highlighted by his run to the final last year – after winning by retirement against No. 35 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands. The World No. 3 from Germany led 6-4, 3-0 after 51 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen when the Dutchman ended the fourth-round match due to an abdominal injury.

“Unfortunately, this morning and in the warmup with the last couple of serves that I hit, I pulled my abdominal, which made me not [able to] serve full and not able to compete the way I would like,” Griekspoor said, following the match, quoted by the ATP Tour website.

“I [had] a scan before the match, which showed nothing yet, but that’s probably because it’s too quick after it happened. They said it needs a couple of hours to show something.”

Griekspoor added: “I tried everything with the warmup. [I] felt actually okay in the first set even though I didn’t serve harder than 180 [km/h] and went all the way down to 150 [km/h] at some point. I tried to go out there. Probably one of the biggest matches of my life against an opponent that I like to play on a beautiful court. So I just wanted to give it a shot, but I realized pretty early that it was not going to be my day.”

Next, Zverev will face three-time Roland-Garros champion and this year’s No. 6 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Dembélé parades Champions League trophy

Shortly after Lois Boisson’s remarkable upset victory over Jessica Pegula, Paris Saint-Germain superstar Ousmane Dembélé came out on Court Philippe-Chatrier  parading the Champions League trophy his team won over the weekend in front of an excited crowd that included many French fans.

Dembélé’s Paris Saint-Germain team beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich Saturday evening to win the UEFA European club championship.

The team’s Parc des Princes stadium is about a five-minute walk from Stade Roland-Garros and hosted a watch party for Saturday’s title match.

Monday’s Roland-Garros results

Tuesday’s Roland-Garros order of play

By the numbers

With No. 12 seed Tommy Paul and No. 15 seed Frances Tiafoe through to the quarterfinal round, it’s the first time the United States has placed more than one man in the last eight in Paris since 1996, when Jim Courier and Pete Sampras did it together. No American men had made it to the quarterfinals in any year since Andre Agassi in 2003.

“Quotable …”

“I needed that kind of win to feel these feelings that I’m able to win under pressure. For sure, it’s a great confirmation for me. … I’m happy that I fought, and I also problem-solved.”

– Three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek of Poland, during her post-match news conference Sunday, after rallying to defeat No. 12 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. The win extended her Roland-Garros winning streak to 25 matches, just the fifth player to hit that mark at the French Open – joining Rafael Nadal (39), Chris Evert (29), Bjorn Borg (28) and Monica Seles (25).

 

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