French flair in 2025

LOIS BOISSON.
REMEMBER THE NAME.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/brvgyZydRe

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2025

Today, in Paris, French wild card Lois Boisson continued her amazing run by upsetting 6th seed Mirra Andreeva and reaching the semifinals of the tournament. Boisson had already caused a great stir by reaching the quarterfinals and upsetting 3rd seed Jessica Pegula. Prior to that, she had defeated Anna Kalinina and 24th seed Elise Mertens. She then had to play another French wild card, Elsa Jacquemot, in the third round, and the fact that they had both made it to the third round was news in itself. 

Boisson was granted a wild card to the French Open last year, but shortly before the tournament began, she injured her left knee, tearing the ACL, and had to undergo surgery. Part of her rehab was using virtual reality, and it appears to have paid off. According to the Roland Garros website, "The neurovisual training included sight tests, catching a ball at short range with one eye obstructed, buzzer reaction tests, even using virtual reality headsets."

"Doing these exercises has greatly improved my reactivity and it now comes naturally," Boisson said of the program.

Boisson made her WTA debut in 2021, playing doubles in Lyon. She has won three ITF singles titles, and she won her first WTA title in Sain-Malo, a WTA 125 tournament. She is ranked number 361 in the world.

Andreeva stunned the tennis world earlier this year by winning Dubai and Indian Wells (back-to-back wins). In Dubai, she knocked out 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, five-time major champion Iga Swiatek and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina before defeating Clara Tauson in the final. In Indian Wells, Andreeva defeated world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

But today, the Russian star, who is only 18, could not channel her inner Ostapenko. After narrowly losing the first set in an 8-6 tiebreak, she was obviously rattled by the predictably brutal French crowd. To make her situation worse, her opponent didn't appear to be under any pressure--she just went about her business, utilizing an impressive forehand with a lot of spin.

Boisson is the second player in the past 40 years to defeat multiple top 10 players in her first major main draw. (Monica Seles did it in 1999, also at the French Open.)

In today's other semifinal, 2nd seed (and 2022 runner-up) Coco Gauff defeated 7th seed Madison Keys 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-1. Between them, Gauff and Keys made 101 unforced errors and hit 40 winners, most of which came from Keys' racket. But Gauff went about solving problems and expertly covering the court. 

In yesterday's quarterfinal play, top seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated 8th seed Zheng Qinwen 7-6(7), 6-3. Zheng, who won an Olympic gold medal on the Roland Garros courts last year, was a favorite to win the title, but Sabalenka's was too much for her this week.

In the other quarterfinal, four-time champion and 5th seed Iga Swiatek defeated 13th seed Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5. Svitolina's run was notable, however, in that she upset 2024 finalist Jasmine Paolini in the round of 16, in a match in which Paolini led for two sets, and in which she held three match points. 

Swiatek and Sabalenka have never played one another at the French Open, but now they will compete for a place in the final. 

Here is the semifinal singles draw:

Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Iga Swiatek (5)
Lois Boisson (wc) vs. Coco Gauff (2)

There have also been other big upsets in Paris. One didn't surprise me that much--four-time defending wheelchair champion Diede de Groot (who is seeded 3rd, and it feels strange just to write that) was knocked out in the first round by Li Xiaohui. de Groot is just returning from injury and subsequent surgery, and Li--who ended de Groot's 145-match win streak at the World Team Cup last year--was certainly not the player she wanted to face in her first round. 

The other upset is indeed surprising: The unseeded team of Anna Danilina and Aleks Krunic upset top doubles seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Danilina and Krunic will play another unseeded team--Ulrikke Eikeri and Eri Hozumi. The other semifinal match will feature 4th seeds Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, who will compete against 2nd seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.