French wildcard entry Royson confused sixth-placed Mira Andreva 7-6 (6), 6-3 on Wednesday in front of a raucous, partisan crowd at Roland Garros to reach the semi-finals of the French Open.
Andreva repeatedly showed frustration with the crowd as excited fans chanted “Lois, Lois” between the points, waving the tricolor flag, screaming during the play, praised the Russian teenager’s error.
“It’s incredible. Thank you for supporting me like this. I have no words,” Boisson told the home crowd. “I was nervous early so I ran a little too much, but on that first set we fought hard. It was so intense. At the beginning of the second I felt a little empty, but then hanging down there and finished work.”
The 22-year-old Boisson became the first woman to reach the semi-finals in her debut Grand Slam tournament since Jennifer Capriati at the 1990 French Open. Boisson is also the first women’s wildcard to reach the French Open semi-finals in an open era (since 1968).
She is also the youngest French semi-finalist in a Grand Slam since Amelie Mauresmo at Wimbledon in 1999.
Boisson faces No. 3 Kokogoff in the semi-finals after the American star overcomes sloppy play and defeats the Madison Keys 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-1 to defeat the first set.
The first set was marked by momentum swings and great shotmaking from both players. Boisson took two breaks, but fought back each time, using heavy spins and deep ground strokes to annoy the Russian enemies.
Andreva was visibly nervous at the key points, struggling to stay calm and wasted the opportunity to close the set when it was 5-3. Despite saving three set points and forcing a tiebreaker, she eventually handed the set to Boisson with two consecutive backhand errors.
In the second set, Andreeva responded strongly, taking a 3-0 lead. But Boisson ran through the fierce backhand winner, drawing a roar of approval from the lively crowd.
Andreeva was warned after using a regular forehand volley as the net and angrily hit the ball into the stands. She then argued with the judge over the call that gave Boisson a breakpoint. On the next point, Andreeva was double broken and did not recover.
At No. 361 in the WTA rankings, Boisson is the third lowest woman to reach the semi-finals in the last 30 years. Kim Clijsters (2009 US Open) and Justin Henin (2010 Australian Open) were neither ranked.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to the report.
