Here was a player ranked No. 361 in the world, who a year earlier had torn her ACL only days before the tournament; whose game, according to scouting reports, didn’t feature much outside of a high-spin, heavy-ball forehand. Heck, she’d won but a single match at the WTA Tour level, and had no main-draw experience to speak of at any of tennis’ four majors.
Nobody expected a thing from Lois Boisson at Roland Garros.
But the 22-year-old Frenchwoman, who picked up the sport as an 8-year-old on a family vacation, had her own set of expectations. Boisson would pull off a magical run in Paris, stunning the likes of Top 10 opponents Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva en route to the semifinals, the first French player to reach the last four of the women’s draw in nearly a decade and a half.
Famous firsts
There were other ‘firsts’ and ‘youngests,’ too: First woman to reach the semis in her Slam debut since Jennifer Capriati at this same event in 1990; first women’s wild card to reach the semis in the Open Era; youngest French semifinalist at a major since current Roland Garros
tournament director Amelie Mauresmo at Wimbledon in 1999.
The French fans were en extase to come along for the ride, the raucous atmosphere inside Court Philippe Chatrier often too much for her opponents to handle. (Just ask Andreeva, who repeatedly showed frustration during her 7-6(6), 6-3 defeat.)
“I’ve never experienced such an intense week, both physically and emotionally,” said Boisson, who skyrocketed to No. 65 in the WTA rankings. “Roland Garros is a dream.”
‘My ball is a bit different’
Turns out those scouting reports didn’t tell the whole story. Boisson, in fact, can throw more than a few looks at her opponents. Yes, she likes to run around the backhand, but with her elite all-court speed, she can mix things up, too.
“My game has always been this way, with a lot of variety,” she said. “The more I practice and throughout the years, I actually fine-tune my game. My forehand? Maybe my ball is a bit different from the other girls, but I’ve always played this way throughout the years, throughout practice sessions. The more I play, the better it will be.”
“She’s really fast, so she’s really good at running around to get her forehand and also covering the forehand side,” attested Pegula. “She hits it pretty heavy, super high and heavy when she wants to, when she needs to get back in the point, and then she’s able to use her drop shot and slice. She’s really quick.”
Maiden WTA title
Boisson would carry her Roland Garros momentum into July’s MSC Ladies Hamburg Open, where she captured her maiden tour-level title via a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Hungary’s Anna Bondar.
“It’s really tough to win a tournament, so when I did it, I’m really happy with that,” said Boisson of the WTA 250 clay-court title. “Just happy, and I hope it will continue like this.”
Now we’ll see how Boisson adjusts to another surface swap. She did stumble out of the gate on grass at Wimbledon, where she fell in the opening round of qualifying, 6-2, 6-7(1), 6-4, to Canada’s Carson Branstine. Now inside the Top 50, she’ll get her first taste of Grand Slam tennis on cement at the US Open. No one will be expecting much from her. Except herself, that is.
