Wildcard and world No 361 Lois Boisson is one step away from the French Open final after beating teen star Mirra Andreeva in straight sets on Wednesday.
Backed by a partisan home crowd at Roland Garros, Dijon-born Boission produced another sensational performance following her fourth-round win over third seed Jessica Pegula.
This time it was sixth seed Andreeva who was to become the Frenchwoman's latest big-name victim as Boisson sealed a thrilling 7-6, 6-3 victory to set up a semi-final clash with world No 2 Coco Gauff on Thursday.
It was a disastrous day for teenager Andreeva who repeatedly showed her frustration with the crowd, as excited fans chanted “Lois, Lois” between points, waved Tricolor flags, shouted during play, and even applauded the Russian's errors.
The 18-year-old suffered a complete meltdown in the second set as she argued with the umpire, received a code violation for whacking a ball into the stands, burst into tears and forced her mother Raisa to leave her player's box.
The winning point was met with ferocious noise from her boisterous supporters in the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd after a win and fairy-tale run that will lift Boisson comfortably inside the top 100.
“It’s incredible. Thank you for supporting me like this – I have no words,” Boisson told a delirious crowd.
“I ran a bit too much because I was so tense early on,” she admitted. “But I fought hard in that first set, which was so intense. At the start of the second, I felt a little empty, but I hung in there and finished the job.”
It has been an incredible performance from the 22-year-old who is making her first Grand Slam appearance after last season's ACL injury.
She is the first wildcard in the modern era to reach the French Open semi-finals and is the first player ranked outside the top 300 to defeat multiple top-10 opponents since Serena Williams in Chicago 1997.
Boisson also became the third woman to reach the semi-finals at her debut Grand Slam tournament after Monica Seles (1989) and Jennifer Capriati (1990) both achieved it at the French Open.
Earlier, Gauff had come out on top in a scruffy all-American battle against Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
A match that featured a combined 101 unforced errors and 14 breaks of serve ended 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 in favour of the 22-year-old.
“Maddie was playing well, she's hitting the ball so fast and so low so I was just trying to fight for each point,” said Gauff, the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2022 when she was crushed 6-1, 6-3 by Iga Swiatek.
“I knew I had to be able to run today and as soon as the ball came short, punish her for it.
“It means a lot, getting through this tough match. I'm very happy to get through and be in the semi-finals again. I have a lot more work to do but I'm going to savour this one today. I'll be ready for tomorrow's match.”
Despite the numerous double-faults and missed strokes, Gauff managed to pull her game together enough to win eight of the last nine games. “I have had that in me from a young age, she said.
“When times become more difficult, knowing that I can dig deep in those tough moments.
“My philosophy is if I can just leave it all out there, then the loss will hurt a lot less than regrets of maybe not giving it your all.”
Keys, the newest member of the Grand Slam winners' club following her Melbourne triumph in January, bowed out with her 60th and final unforced error on match-point of a forgettable clash.
“I don't really have regrets. I don't think I played quite the level that I wish that I could have, but I don't think that I regret not going for things or making poor decisions,” Keys told reporters.
“I just think that what I wanted to do and the level I produced just weren't on the same page today.
“The court being a little bit slower coupled with the fact that she covers the court so well, it just put a little bit of pressure on me to go a little bit more for my shots and maybe press a little bit too much too soon.”
