French Cinderella reaches semi-finals and breaks a few Roland Garros records

All Roland Garros semi-finalists are decided in the women's singles side. In the morning, the All-American match between Madison Keys and Coco Cauff ended with a thrilling victory for Gauff. Keys, who claimed the Australian open early this year, ends a 11-match winning streak in majors against Gauff, whose only Grand Slam came in the US in 2023, and reached the final in France in 2022.

However, the biggest surprise of the tournament continues to be Loïs Boisson. French tennis fans had grown accustomed of not seeing home favourites in the later stages at the Philippe Chatrier, but Boisson has surprises everyone: she entered as a wild card, invited by French Tennis Federation, and has taken out in her path World No. 3 Jessica Pegula and now World No. 6 Mirra Andreeva in straight sets: 6(6)-7(8), 3-6.

With that victory, Boisson (currently ranked 361) becomes the first French female player to reach Roland Garros semi-finals since Marion Bartoli in 2011, and the first in the Open Era to do it as a wild card. Hear how the crowd erupts:

Boisson not only hadn't beaten a top 20 before facing Pegula: she had never played against one, being in much lower categories. It was only last year when she won her maiden title, a WTA 125 in Saint-Malo. Shortly after, she was expected to be given a wildcard entrance on Roland Garros 2024... she torn her ACL and was side-lined for nine months.

One year later, she has completely recovered, and has made good use of the invitation. She will face Coco Gauff on Friday, a player with much more titles, one year younger... but if this Roland Garros run was any indication, Boisson also wants to enter the elite for the future.