Bill Simons
PARIS
Was the run of Lois Boisson to the Roland Garros semifinals the greatest tennis miracle with a French accent ever?
Historians will tell you tales of the singular Suzanne Lenglen and the gallant Four Musketeers, the quartet of long-ago Frenchmen who popularized the game here. Mary Pierce’s out-of-abuse-to-glory story inspires. Gael Monfils is a legend who delights.
But when it comes to tennis miracles with a French connection, nothing beats the 1972 tale of Arthur Ashe strolling down a lane one evening in the Cameroons when, by sheer chance, he, Richard Evans and Charlie Pasarell spotted a kid playing tennis with his uncle as huge tropical moths swirled. Yannick Noah soon hit a fabulous volley. Ashe told his friend, French tennis boss Philippe Chatrier, that they ought to bring the boy to France to train. And Noah would soon become a legend.
Then in 2012, a free-swinging Frenchwoman still grieving the recent death of her fiancé, Virginie Razzano, scored a first-round French Open win over Serena. While French pride soared, the shock loss prompted Serena to get it together. Tennis history would never be the same.
Yet Boisson’s recent French Open run is an out-of-nowhere story like no other in all of French or tennis history.
It would be callous to say that just a couple of weeks ago Boisson was a nobody – how demeaning. And let’s not bring up Harriet Dart’s taunt at a Rouen tourney six weeks ago, when she claimed that Boisson smelled. We might lose our license to be a tennis writer.
But prior to Roland Garros, outside of France’s Tennis Club de Fontaine Les Dijon, 194 miles east of here, few knew who Boisson was. Ranked No. 361, she didn’t even qualify for the Roland Garros qualifying tourney.
But somehow, she leapfrogged over about a dozen other French women and got a wildcard. Soon she took down the considerable No. 24 seed, Elise Mertens, and then took full advantage of a draw that was briefly as soft as a French creme custard aux oeufs.
Yet in the fourth round, Lois’ foe was no cream puff. Jessica Pegula, No. 3, is a veteran warrior. But Boisson’s high-bouncing topspin forehand and speed were too much. In the semis, whiz kid Mirra Andreeva, No. 6, was overwhelmed by the crowd, the emotions and the moment. She crumbled. The 18-year-old Russian will learn to handle the biggest of stages.
And today, we remember what we’ve learned over the years. Among French players, one always senses a certain joie de vivre, and an appreciation of the tennis life. But, is a fierce, do-or-die urgency embedded in their DNA? Yes, French tennis gives us dreamy artists with flowing backhands and a penchant for brainy thoughts and spontaneous delights. After all, beauty has its demands.
Master coach Patrick Mouratoglou said that France is “a great country to build players. The thing maybe we don’t have…is the right mentality to raise champions. For French players, things are too easy…They make a lot of money…quite early, and I think we lack ambition. Maybe it’s not in the culture of France…Grand Slam winners are people who have very high expectations, who simply have the mentality of champions.”
Gael Monfils told us, “I create music, I create painting, I create whatever I want to create…I dance and move. I create anything.”
“Nonsense!” Boisson seemed to say. Never mind that there was a gap of 359 ranking points and a $24 million differential in career earnings between her and her foe today, Coco Gauff.
Yes, Lois was the first player in the Open Era to reach the French Open semis as a wildcard. The first French player to make it to a Slam final since Caroline Garcia at the 2022 US Open was hoping to become the first Slam finalist as a wildcard since Justine Henin at the Australian Open in 2010. Boisson, who was just the second player ranked outside the Top 300 in the last 40 years to defeat multiple Top 10 opponents in a single event, told the media, “My dream is to win it, not to be in the semifinal.”
But Gauff had other ideas. She stepped in and confidently hit deep and to the lines. She created angles and moved Boisson to the corners. Aggressive and willing to pick up her pace, Gauff called on her savvy anticipation and lightning speed, defending with ease. She broke twice en route to a convincing 6-1 first-set win.
Perhaps most of all, Coco was focused. When Madison Keys first met Coco she was nine, Maddy came away thinking how poised the girl was. Frances Tiafoe loves to call her “Little Miss Mature.”
Gauff ignored the roar of the crowd, the occasional boos, the fluttering French flags and the cries of “Allez, Low-ees! Allez, Low-ees!” She took the crowd out of the match.
Broadcaster Marcus Buckland said, “What you don’t want is the whole thing to fall apart.” It did.
Lois did have break points in both sets – but to no avail. As Paris rains poured on the Roland Garros roof, the French woman’s spirits dampened. Her shoulders slumped. Her legs were spent. She bent over in frustration. Quite baffled by it all, her inexperience shouted loud.
Boisson did break serve in the second set, but then she sprayed shot after shot. She botched a swinging volley, she kicked the clay, and Coco surged. Lois and her backers quickly lost hope. Some abandoned Stade Philippe-Chatrier. At the end, Gauff barely lost a point, winning three games in a flash to collect a 6-1, 6-2 win in 69 decisive minutes, and reach her second French final in three years, where, as the No. 2 player in the world, she’ll face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
More to the point for French fans, the fairytale was over. Boisson walked off court a defeated dreamer (whose ranking will leap almost 300 slots to No. 65).
Yes, there have been more impactful runs to a Slam semifinal. Jimmy Connors’ operatic journey to the 1991 US Open semis forever made the Big Apple tourney a must-see happening.
But arguably, there has never been an out-of-nowhere emergence quite like Boisson’s. Six weeks before the French Open she was told she smelled. But in Paris she brought joy, hope and the realization that, at times, sports gives us the unlikeliest of heroes.
HEAVYWEIGHT BRAWLER ARYNA DOWNS FOUR-TIME CLAY CHAMP: Either four-time Roland Garros champ Iga Swiatek or world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has topped the WTA rankings since April 4, 2022. They’ve won 7 of the last 12 Slams and have been the two most dominant women’s players in the game. They’re the game’s Big Two.
But they haven’t played each other since Cincy last August. Amazingly, they’ve battled only one time in a Slam – and never in a final.
You’d think their meeting Thursday would be the popcorn match of the day. Today’s winner would be favored to lift the trophy.
But the intriguing Gauff vs. Boisson match-up was taking much of the oxygen. Cinderella has appeal – emotions matter.
Yet the WTA’s Big 2 didn’t disappoint. The four-time French Open winner Swiatek and the No. 1 Sabalenka battled mightily – the game’s great heavyweight vs. its fabulous middleweight, who was on a 26-match French Open win streak.
They traded surges, breaks of serves and the first two sets. Then the mighty Sabalenka stepped up. Swiatek’s serve and will wavered. Aryna pounded winners. In the final set, she bageled the queen of bagels to score a clutch 7-6, 4-6, 6-0 win. The Belarusian, who has twice won the Aussie Open and once collected the US Open trophy, will now seek to beat Gauff and win her first Slam on a natural surface.
BARFING UP THE WRONG TREE: When talking about his preparation for the French Open, Alexander Zverev stated the obvious, saying, “Throwing up three days before the tournament is not ideal.”…When reflecting on the serve of China’s Zheng Qinwen, Radio Roland Garros said, “She has a tiny little kink in her throw up.” They also pointed out that the small entryways to Stade Philippe-Chatrier are called vomitaries.
NO NICK KNOCK, BUT…The still sidelined Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of Wimbledon. Will he ever return? Will he ultimately be seen as a dazzling talent, showman and provocateur who underperformed? Time will tell.
ITALIANS KEEP ON COOKING: Jannik Sinner is No. 1 in the world and we could still have an all-Italian French final – Sinner vs. Lorenzo Musetti. And, not to be overlooked, the No. 3 seeded Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori took out the No. 4 lefty American team of Taylor Townsend and Evan King 6-4, 6-2, to win the mixed doubles title. It was the seventh overall Grand Slam doubles title for Errani.
SWEET AND SOUR SASCHA: Alexander Zverev is tennis’s sweet and sour sauce. He’s reached the semis or better in nine Slams. This year’s Aussie Open finalist is No. 2 in the world and is the best active player to never win a Slam. Off-court, the 6’ 6” giant is popular in the locker room and has been elected to the ATP Men’s Council. Plus, he’s gained kudos for his hard work on his diabetes foundation.
But, two deeply troubling accusations of violence against women still linger in the minds of many.
Coming into Paris, last year’s French Open finalist has had incredibly erratic results. He noted, “This is who I am, unfortunately. I have ups and downs. I’m not a Djokovic, I’m not a Rafa…My highs are very high…but my lows are lower than other top guys. There are reasons.”
Last night, he broke Novak to start their much-anticipated quarterfinal and collected the first set, 6-4. But the Serb, at 38, recently seems to be reborn. He used his savvy, experience, tactical genius and astounding, still-here-after-all-these-years grit to come back and prevail, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. After his performance, he’s certain to get an honorary membership into the International Association of Dropshot Artists. He’ll next play Sinner, who has yet to drop a set en route to the semis.
