On the French Open, Boisson overturned Pegula to become the biggest dark horse

In this year's French Open, the local team with high hopes once again handed over a poor report card, Fez and Amber, two French seeded players, retired one after another, and the women's tennis showed a state of inadequacy, while Gasquet and Garcia, two French tennis figures, announced their retirement at this French Open. After four rounds of singles, 22-year-old wildcard Lois Boisson, ranked 361st in the world, was the only French face in the draw.

In the women's singles quarterfinals on June 3 local time, Boisson, who appeared at the Philippe Chartier Stadium, fought with the No. 3 seed Pegula for 2 hours and 40 minutes, and finally completed the reversal 3-6/6-4/6-4, breaking a big upset in the women's singles field.

With the victory, Boisson unlocked a series of records of her own: Boisson became the lowest-ranked woman to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam since the 2017 US Open, when former top 20 player Kanepi, ranked 418, advanced to the quarterfinals; She is also the first woman since 2008 French Open qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro to reach the quarter-finals on her career Grand Slam debut. The last time a French woman reached the quarterfinals of the French Open was back in 2017, when Garcia and Mladenovic both reached the quarter-finals.

"If someone had told me about the result two weeks ago, I would never have believed it," Boisson said after the race, "and I always believed in myself, but to be honest, it was unbelievable. Now that my dream has come true, I'm so happy. I was so nervous when I got match point that I couldn't put into words when I saw that my shot was the winning point, and all the pressure was released to win the match and advance to the quarterfinals. "

It was Boisson's first career Grand Slam appearance, her second appearance at tour-level level, and the first time she faced a top-10 player. In fact, Boisson could have made her Grand Slam debut at last year's French Open, when she won her top title at St Malo in early May last year, and the WTA125K title could have earned her a wild card at the French Open, but on the eve of the tournament, Boisson suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury and was forced to take a nine-month hiatus.

After making her comeback this year, Boisson made her wild card at the WTA 250 Rouen in mid-April and advanced to the second round with a win on her WTA main draw debut. At the French Open, she finally started her first Grand Slam main draw with a wild card a year late, beating 24th seed Mertens in the first round to win her first victory in the top 25, and then she defeated Ukraine's Karenina and compatriot Jacquemo in succession to break into the second week of the French Open.

Boisson's dream run continues, as she will face sixth seed Andreeva in the quarter-finals, who will advance to the quarterfinals of the Women's Singles without dropping a set. "It's a wonderful feeling to be in the quarter-finals and I hope there will be more French players to reach that level in the future. Reaching the quarter-finals at home means a lot and my goal is to go further. "My life will not change because of this, everything will continue to be the same." The only difference is that the new ranking allows me to compete at a higher level. "

Regardless of the outcome, Boisson will set a new personal record since the French Open, where she has risen to No.120 in her instant rankings, and if the Frenchman can go any further, her world ranking will break the top 100 mark for the first time, jumping to around No.68.

(Text: Faye Wong, Photo: Visual China)