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In sports, there are unprecedented underdog feats. And then there’s what Lois Boisson is doing at the 2025 French Open, her home Grand Slam.
Boisson, a wild-card qualifier ranked No. 361, defeated world No. 6 Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday to advance to the women’s singles semifinals at Roland-Garros. According to ESPN, she’s the third-lowest-ranked player to advance to a Grand Slam semifinal in the last 30 years. She’s also the first player to make the semis in her Grand Slam debut in 35 years.
She was supposed to make her debut last year but sustained a torn ACL the day before the 2024 French Open, which was a few days after her 21st birthday. She was ranked No. 152 last May, the highest of her career.
This year, she’s already beaten two top-10 players (Andreeva and world No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the fourth round) and is assured a semifinals payday of around $785,000, more than five times what she’s earned in her pro career ($148,009).
Her path to an improbable French Open title will only get tougher as she’ll need to beat two more Grand Slam champions. Boisson is set to battle world No. 2 Coco Gauff in the semifinals. A win will assure her of at least $1.4 million in winnings.
The French Open title will come against either world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or four-time French Open champion Iga Świątek. A record $2.9 million prize awaits the champion.
Despite her relative anonymity, Boisson made headlines in April at the Rouen Open. Her opponent, Harriet Dart, went viral for asking the umpire whether Boisson could wear deodorant because the smell was “really bad.”
Boisson made light of the incident, even posting a photo of herself playing tennis while adding a photo of a deodorant bottle.
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