Roland-Garros: Loïs Boisson eliminated in the semi-final after her defeat against Coco Gauff

Her run came to a cruel end in the semi-finals, but what a beautiful one it was. The first Frenchwoman to reach this stage of the competition at Roland-Garros since 2011, Loïs Boisson was eliminated just outside the final on Thursday, June 5, by the young American Coco Gauff (6-1, 6-2), world number 2. Thanks to her epic run, she will jump almost 300 places in the world rankings, going from 361st to 65th.

Stifled by the world number two's aggression and struggling to serve, Loïs Boisson was down 4-0 after just 20 minutes of play. Little by little, she seemed to get the better of her, especially with her forehand, but saw Coco Gauff take the first set (6-1). The fight wasn't really engaged, despite a few flashes of brilliance.

More assertive at the start of the second set, the Frenchwoman made a series of unforced errors against an opponent who was imperious in defense. While the 21-year-old American briefly appeared brittle, she never gave up, watched by a stunned crowd. Short of ideas and, visibly, of energy, the Frenchwoman threw her last strength into the battle, in vain. She lost 6-1, 6-2 and would not taste the final. A bitter defeat that took nothing away from a historic epic.

By reaching the semi-finals at Porte d'Auteuil , "she clearly demonstrated that she is one of the best clay court players in the world. I'm sure we'll have other battles" in the coming years, the winner predicted just after her victory.

Having defeated world number 3 Jessica Pegula in the round of 16 and then the young Russian Mirra Andreeva (6th at 18 years old) in the quarter-finals, the 22-year-old from Dijon was unable to surprise a third member of the top 10 in a row but is assured of becoming the first Frenchwoman in the WTA rankings at the start of next week, around 70th place.

Despite her defeat against Gauff, who reached her second final in Paris after losing to Iga Swiatek (5th) in 2022, Boisson achieved the best run at Porte d'Auteuil by a player who received a wild card invitation since the start of the professional tennis era in 1968.

Before arriving at Roland Garros, the Frenchwoman had won only one match on the main circuit, at the modest WTA 250 in Rouen in April. She was also playing her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, after three qualifying losses in 2021, 2022, and 2023 and a serious left knee injury in the spring of 2024, which kept her off the courts for many months.

The 21-year-old, who won the 2023 US Open (hard), Coco Gauff, on the other hand, arrived in a strong mood after her finals at the prestigious WTA 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome in May. Ignoring the cheers from the center court for her new darling, the American entered the match very well.

"It's the first time I've played a Frenchwoman here outside of maybe the Covid period," Gauff assured. "I tried to isolate myself" and not hear the Central crowd cheering for Boisson, Gauff said. "Every time you shouted her name, I repeated mine to myself," the American smiled to the good-natured laughter of the spectators, who were hardly resentful.

Having left the court moments after losing the first set 6-1, Boisson returned with better intentions but continued to suffer from poor execution.

The first of the two players to get a break point in the second set, the first Frenchwoman in the semi-finals of Roland Garros since Marion Bartoli squandered it by sending a forehand into the net.

In the next game, Gauff broke her serve on her first break point. Despite an immediate break from Boisson to get back to 3-2, the American reeled off two consecutive clean sheets before breaking her opponent's serve one last time to close out the match.

And to offer a reunion with Sabalenka, a month after being beaten in the final in Madrid.