Boisson lights up French Open; Sinner to face Djokovic in semifinals

PARIS — An inspired Lois Boisson delighted Roland Garros as the French world number 361 downed Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday to set up a French Open semifinal against Coco Gauff, while Jannik Sinner secured a last-four meeting with Novak Djokovic beat third seed Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in a night session duel.

World number one Sinner earlier romped to a comprehensive 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 win over unseeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik.

Boisson, making her debut at a Grand Slam event, powered her way to a thrilling 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 victory on a raucous Court Philippe Chatrier to become the first Frenchwoman to reach the semis since Marion Bartoli in 2011.

The 22-year-old, who was due to play at last year's French Open but suffered a knee injury the week before the tournament, is the lowest-ranked woman to reach a major semifinal in 40 years.

"It was incredible to play in front of this crowd and feel support like that," said Boisson, after hitting 24 winners past Russian sixth seed Andreeva to follow up her fourth-round win over world number three Jessica Pegula with an even more surprising victory.

A dramatic first set saw Andreeva miss a set point after leading 5-3, before Boisson fought back only to see three chances of her own come and go in a marathon 12th game.

But the wildcard fought off another set point in the tie-break, before taking her next opportunity, cupping her ear towards the adoring crowd in celebration.

Andreeva gathered herself and quickly built a 3-0 lead in the second set, only to be left jumping up and down in anger after a missed backhand gave Boisson a much-needed hold of serve.

The 18-year-old Andreeva started to crumble under the pressure, being given a warning for slamming a ball into the top tier of the stands as the atmosphere heated up under the Chatrier roof.

She was roundly booed when she then argued with the umpire over a line call, and was broken later that game after another double-fault to suddenly trail 4-3.

Boisson made it six consecutive games to secure a seismic victory as Andreeva, one of the pre-tournament favorites, completely unravelled.

Second seed Gauff battled back from a set down to defeat fellow American, and Australian Open champion, Madison Keys in an error-strewn opening match 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-1.

The former US Open champion upped her level enough after dropping the first set to get through a quarter-final littered with 14 double-faults and a whopping 101 unforced errors.

"It means a lot, especially getting through this tough match today, it wasn't an easy match and I'm very happy to get through it," she said.

Gauff, the 2022 losing finalist, will be hoping to go at least one better than when she lost to Iga Swiatek in last year's semi-final.

Swiatek continues her bid for a fourth consecutive Roland Garros title in a blockbuster match with world number one Aryna Sabalenka in Thursday's other semifinal.

Sinner marches on

Sinner, who only returned from a three-month doping ban last month at the Italian Open, booked his place in a second straight Roland Garros semi-final by swatting aside 62nd-ranked Bublik.

The top seed is bidding for a third successive Grand Slam title after following his 2024 US Open triumph by successfully defending his Australian Open crown in January.

Sinner was far too strong for Bublik, playing in his first major quarterfinal, hammering 31 winners in a dominant display and is yet to drop a set in the tournament.

"I'm very happy with how I've arrived in the semi-finals, semifinals in Grand Slams are very special, I'm looking forward to it," said the 23-year-old, who lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in last year's semis.

The Italian is just one win from reaching his first Slam final not on hard courts.

Bublik, who enjoyed the "best moment of his life" by defeating Jack Draper in the last 16, has now lost four of his five career meetings with Sinner.

Djokovic downs Zverev

Djokovic brought his run at a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title to the semifinal stage at Roland Garros as he edged out Zverev in a tense last-eight battle.

The 38-year-old fought past third seed Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in a night session duel, which captivated Court Philippe Chatrier over three-and-a-quarter hours.

"Matches like this is one of the reasons I carry on playing and I love the competition," said Djokovic.

On center court, last year's runner-up Zverev roared out of the blocks with a break of serve in the very first game.

That game proved the difference-maker as the only other break point generated in the entirety of the rest of the set was saved by the German as he served out the opener.

It was the first time former world number one Djokovic has dropped a set at the French Open this year.

But the 24-time major winner did not dwell on that fact.

The second set continued where the first had left off, until Djokovic engineered himself a 3-1 lead after Zverev pushed a backhand long when serving at 30-40.

The next game then produced just the second deuce of the match so far as both players began to make headway on the other's service.

Djokovic eventually consolidated a crucial hold with an ace to end the game, which lasted nearly nine minutes.

The rest of the set continued like a mirror image of the first, with Zverev battling hard but being unable to muster up many break opportunities on Djokovic's serve.

The set was sealed at the third time of asking as the three-time Roland Garros champion executed an immaculate backhand drop-shot to conclude a spectacular rally, replete with drop-shots, overheads and net cords.

The Serb sniffed out a break opportunity in game five of the third set and snaffled it after a couple of deuces with a delightful drop-shot to earn advantage, before Zverev planted a forehand in the tramlines.

With a player for the first time in the ascendancy in the match, Djokovic doubled his advantage when a Zverev volley dropped agonizingly long of the baseline, with his opponent stranded in the service box.

The sudden swing to Djokovic's favour seemed to destabilise the 28-year-old as he started the next game with an attempted dropper that nestled in the bottom of the net as Djokovic moved into a 2-1 lead to love.

Still on a high, Djokovic started the fourth by again breaking the big-serving Hamburg-native.

He brought Chatrier to its feet when he whipped a cross-court forehand past Zverev to save break point in the sixth game at the end of an exchange that the 1.98m German looked certain to win on at least three occasions.

Zverev appeared a defeated man when he eventually passed up that chance at a vital break-back with a netted forehand.

Djokovic marched on and sealed his 101st win at the French Open, raising his arms aloft in triumph after finally converting match point at the fifth time of asking.

Defeat at the quarter-final stage of the tournament in which he has reached at least the last four every year since 2021 brings an end to a disappointing clay-court season for Zverev.

The three-time Grand Slam runner-up endured early exits at the Monte Carlo Masters and Madrid Open, as well as in the last eight in Rome.

© 2025 AFP