Lois Boisson’s Cinderella run to the last four of the French Open was the story of this year’s tournament.
Grand Slam tennis often springs up a shock or two, but few were expecting the world number 361 to reach the semi-finals of Roland Garros.
After taking down the 24th seed Elise Mertens in round one, Boisson made her way past Anhelina Kalinina and Elsa Jaquemot to reach the fourth round.
Much to the enjoyment of the fans on Court Philippe Chatrier, Boisson stunned world number three Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images
Backing the biggest win of her career up with another shock result against a top ten player, Boisson beat Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals.
Her run eventually came to an end in the semi-finals, losing to America’s Coco Gauff in straight sets, but she had more than left her mark on the Parisian clay.
Reflecting on her breakout performance, her fellow Frenchman, Patrick Mouratoglou, has highlighted the three lessons that can be learned from Boisson’s French Open run.
Lois Boisson’s Roland Garros run proved ‘anything can happen’ in tennis, says Patrick Mouratoglou
Talking on Instagram, Naomi Osaka’s coach Mouratoglou laid out three lessons that can be learned from what Boisson achieved in Paris.
Lesson 1 – ‘Anything can happen’
“Lesson number one, anything can happen,” said Mouratoglou.
“Anyone can beat anyone in tennis. Which we knew theoretically, but until someone who’s ranked 360 something in the world beats back-to-back, world number three, world number six, and reaches the last stages of a Grand Slam, it’s just a theory until it happens.
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“She believes she can do it, and she did from the start. Actually, she said it, she feels she’s able to beat anyone.”
Lesson 2: ‘Tennis is a mental game’
“Second lesson, tennis is a mental game, and when you look at the matches, she’s been the more stable emotionally,” he said.
“We’ve seen [Jessica] Pegula, we’ve seen [Mirra] Andreeva going through a lot of mental ups and downs, and emotional moments during the matches that have hurt their games tremendously.
“She has been stable all the time, and when you are able to achieve this mental stability during the matches, you have such an edge on any other player.”
Lesson 3: ‘The role of the crowd’
“The third one is probably the role of the crowd. She’s at home, the crowd is fully behind her,” said Mouratoglou.
Photo by Tnani Badreddine/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images
“When you don’t feel you have to deliver because your ranking is low, so you have nothing to lose, and the crowd is behind you fully, then it’s incredible, the power of that.”
Having enjoyed the best tournament of her young career at Roland Garros, Boisson will now turn her attention towards Wimbledon and the remainder of the 2025 season.
Lois Boisson prepares for Wimbledon debut in 2025
Following her run to the last four in Roland Garros, Boisson made a triumphant return to the top 100, reaching a career-high rank of 65th in the world.
Snapshot of the WTA rankings
She’ll now head to Wimbledon, where she’ll make her debut on grass, having not played on the surface at the WTA or ITF level.
Ranked inside the top 70, Boisson will qualify for the main draw directly, doing so for just the second time in her career.
The likelihood of Boisson making a deep run at the All England Club seems slim, although as Mouratoglou rightfully pointed out, ‘anything can happen’ in tennis.
Boisson will make her Wimbledon debut when the tournament begins on Monday, June 30.