Staff Reporter.
@RolandGarros.
French favourite Lois Boisson’s dream run at Roland-Garros was ended as Coco Gauff booked her place in Saturday’s final with a 6-1 6-2 victory.
Gauff, going in search of her second Grand Slam title, will face world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final as she ended the four-time champion Iga Swiatek’s streak of 26 consecutive wins at the French Open dating back to 2021.
In the first meeting between the WTA’s two most dominant players at a Grand Slam since the 2022 US Open, Sabalenka emerged victorious 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-0 in a hugely topsy-turvy contest.
Ranked 361st in the world on her Grand Slam debut, Boisson’s semi-final against world No 2 Guaff was simply a stage too far for the new French star.
The 22-year-old became both the lowest-ranked semi-finalist at Roland-Garros in the last 40 years, and the lowest quarter-finalist at any Grand Slam since 2017 with her storied run that contained wins over 24th seed Elise Mertens in the first round, world No 3 Jessica Pegula in the fourth and semi-finalist last year – and sixth seed – Mirra Andreeva in the last eight.
But 2023 US Open champion Gauff calmly and confidently stormed to a straight-sets win, dropping only three games, denying the fervent French crowd the chance to rally behind their first female semi-finalist at Roland-Garros since Marion Bartoli.
Gauff immediately broke her opponent twice, before staving off three break points opportunities when holding serve in the fourth game, as she took the opening set 6-1.
Boisson immediately broke back after dropping her serve in the fourth game of the second, to very briefly give hope to a stirring fightback, only for Gauff to rattle off the next three games – dropping only one point – to clinch victory and book her second French Open final, and first since 2022.
Though Boisson’s incredible Grand Slam debut is ended, her £580,000 (approx.) earnings is five times more than what she’s secured over the course of her career so far, with her final four run also set to catapult her up the world rankings.