PARIS: Lois Boisson had never even played at the French Open before, let alone in the biggest arena at Roland-Garros, and now the unseeded 21-year-old Frenchwoman is through to the quarterfinals.
Boisson, a wild card entry ranked 361st, threw her head back and roared after beating third-seeded American Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Monday’s fourth-round play.
Quite some victory, considering Pegula was the US Open runner-up last year. Understandably, Boisson was nervous as she served for the match and saved three break points.
After Pegula missed an easy-looking winner at the net, and then clutched her head in her hands, Boisson had her first match point, and the biggest point of her career so far.
Pegula returned a strong serve to the back of the court, where Boisson unleashed a brilliant forehand winner down the line. She then raised her arms in the air, realizing the enormity of her win.
“I really don’t know what to say, but ‘Thank you to all of you’” Boisson told the crowd in her post-match interview. “Playing on this court with such an atmosphere was really incredible.”
Boisson made the notoriously hard-to-please crowd laugh when she added: “I’m really happy on here. I can stay a long time if you like.”
The crowd broke into chants of “Lois, Lois” and she waved back to them.
She was in the news last month. British player Harriet Dart apologized to Boisson after asking the chair umpire to tell her to put some deodorant on. Now she’s the only French player — male or female — left at Roland-Garros.
Asked what her ambitions were for the rest of the tournament — she plays sixth-seeded Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday in the quarterfinals — she replied, “I hope to win, right?”
That prompted more laughter from the crowd at Court Philippe-Chatrier, which included tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, who has been criticized in some quarters for the lack of women playing in the night session.
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner was playing his fourth-round match later Monday in the night session against No. 17 Andrey Rublev, following 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic’s match against Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
What else happened at the French Open on Monday?
In other women’s fourth-round play, second-seeded Coco Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, won 6-0, 7-5 against No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Over on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, the 18-year-old Andreeva, who reached the semifinals at Roland-Garros last year for her best performance at a major, won 7-5, 6-3 against No. 17 Daria Kasatkina. She playfully threw her wristband at Andreeva when they came to the net and Andreeva joked she would keep it.
No. 7 Madison Keys also advanced on Court Suzanne-Lenglen after beating Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5 in an all-American contest. There’s another one coming up for Keys against Gauff.
In remaining men’s fourth-round play, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, last year’s runner-up, was leading 6-4, 3-0 against Tallon Griekspoor when the unseeded Dutch player retired from the match. He later said it was due to an abdominal strain.
Who is playing Tuesday at Roland-Garros?
The quarterfinals are underway, with two men’s matches and two women’s matches, all on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka faces Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng followed by defending women’s champ Iga Swiatek against No. 13 Elina Svitolina.
The first men’s contest sees eighth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti take on No. 15-seeded American Frances Tiafoe, before defending champion Carlos Alcaraz plays 12th-seeded American Tommy Paul.
