PARIS, June 4: That No. 2 seed Coco Gauff reached Thursday’s French Open semifinals should surprise no one. Her 361st-ranked opponent for a berth in the title match? That’s a whole other story.
Gauff made it to the final four at Roland-Garros for the third time, getting past No. 7 Madison Keys 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday in a quarterfinal between two Americans who both have won a major title.
Next up for 2023 US Open champion Gauff? A matchup against French wild-card entry Loïs Boisson, who extended one of the most stunning runs in tennis history by beating No. 6 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (6), 6-3.
“Unbelievable,” Boisson said. “Incredible.”
Those are a couple of good words for what’s been happening.
A year ago, Boisson was supposed to make her Grand Slam debut in Paris, but she tore a knee ligament and couldn’t compete. Now 22, Boisson is the first woman to get to the semifinals of her first major tournament since Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati did it at the 1989 French Open and is the lowest-ranked to get that far at Roland-Garros in at least 40 years.
She’s doing it with a game made for clay, anchored by heavy groundstrokes and buoyed by a rowdy, partisan crowd that rattled the 18-year-old Andreeva — she was warned for ball abuse for smacking one toward the upper deck after one bad volley — and was just as loud when Boisson upset No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the fourth round.
“It’s impossible to describe,” Boisson said, “what it feels like to have that kind of support.”
Over and over again, the chair umpire tried to tell the 15,000 or so spectators to be quiet as their thunderous applause and shouts of Boisson’s first name reverberated off the inside of the closed roof at Court Philippe-Chatrier. They didn’t heed those requests. They jeered and whistled when Andreeva complained about noise between her first and second serves or argued line calls.
And Boisson hung in there even while facing a set point in the first while down 5-3.
When the match ended, Boisson collapsed to her back, chest heaving and hands on her face. When she rose, there were flecks of rust-colored clay all over, including her forehead.
No matter what happens the rest of the way, Boisson certainly has left her mark on the 2025 French Open. (AP)
