PARIS: Lois Boisson had never even played at the French Open before, let alone in the biggest arena at Roland-Garros, and now the unseeded 21-year-old Frenchwoman is through to the quarterfinals.

Boisson, a wild card entry ranked 361st, threw her head back and roared after beating third-seeded American Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Monday’s fourth-round play.

Quite some victory, considering Pegula was the US Open runner-up last year. Understandably, Boisson was nervous as she served for the match and saved three break points.

After Pegula missed an easy-looking winner at the net, and then clutched her head in her hands, Boisson had her first match point, and the biggest point of her career so far.

Pegula returned a strong serve to the back of the court, where Boisson unleashed a brilliant forehand winner down the line. She then raised her arms in the air, realizing the enormity of her win.

“I really don’t know what to say, but ‘Thank you to all of you’” Boisson told the crowd in her post-match interview. “Playing on this court with such an atmosphere was really incredible.”

Boisson made the notoriously hard-to-please crowd laugh when she added: “I’m really happy on here. I can stay a long time if you like.”

The crowd broke into chants of “Lois, Lois” and she waved back to them.

She was in the news last month. British player Harriet Dart apologized to Boisson after asking the chair umpire to tell her to put some deodorant on. Now she’s the only French player — male or female — left at Roland-Garros.

Asked what her ambitions were for the rest of the tournament — she plays sixth-seeded Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday in the quarterfinals — she replied, “I hope to win, right?”

That prompted more laughter from the crowd at Court Philippe-Chatrier, which included tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, who has been criticized in some quarters for the lack of women playing in the night session.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner was playing his fourth-round match later Monday in the night session against No. 17 Andrey Rublev, following 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic’s match against Britain’s Cameron Norrie.

What else happened at the French Open on Monday?

In other women’s fourth-round play, second-seeded Coco Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, won 6-0, 7-5 against No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Over on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, the 18-year-old Andreeva, who reached the semifinals at Roland-Garros last year for her best performance at a major, won 7-5, 6-3 against No. 17 Daria Kasatkina. She playfully threw her wristband at Andreeva when they came to the net and Andreeva joked she would keep it.

No. 7 Madison Keys also advanced on Court Suzanne-Lenglen after beating Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5 in an all-American contest. There’s another one coming up for Keys against Gauff.

In remaining men’s fourth-round play, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, last year’s runner-up, was leading 6-4, 3-0 against Tallon Griekspoor when the unseeded Dutch player retired from the match. He later said it was due to an abdominal strain.

Who is playing Tuesday at Roland-Garros?

The quarterfinals are underway, with two men’s matches and two women’s matches, all on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka faces Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng followed by defending women’s champ Iga Swiatek against No. 13 Elina Svitolina.

The first men’s contest sees eighth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti take on No. 15-seeded American Frances Tiafoe, before defending champion Carlos Alcaraz plays 12th-seeded American Tommy Paul. 

Max Verstappen said Monday that frustration caused “a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened”, a day after he initially seemed unrepentant over his collision with George Russell at Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen had been asked by his Red Bull team to give up a place to Russell following an earlier incident between the two drivers when he hit Russell’s Mercedes.
The race stewards ruled Verstappen had “suddenly accelerated” before the collision and Russell said it “felt very deliberate”. The stewards gave Verstappen a 10-second penalty which dropped him from fifth to 10th and left him 49 points off standings leader Oscar Piastri, who won Sunday’s race.
“We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, till the safety car came out. Our tire choice to the end and some moves after the safety car restart fueled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened,” Verstappen wrote on Instagram.
“I always give everything out there for the team and emotions can run high. You win some together, you lose some together. See you (at the next race) in Montreal.”
Initially in the aftermath of Sunday’s race, Verstappen had said that “next time I will bring a tissue”, responding to Russell claiming he set a poor example for young drivers.
A series of setbacks
The collision followed a series of setbacks for Verstappen, who had been in third and pressuring the two McLaren drivers in front before the safety car came out.
Red Bull decided to bring Verstappen into the pits for fresh tires, even though the only ones he had left were slower hard-compound tires, a type that no other driver used.
At the restart, Verstappen lost grip and was overtaken by Charles Leclerc, whose Ferrari made contact with Verstappen’s Red Bull. Neither driver was ruled at fault for that.
Verstappen then went off the track while defending against Russell and Red Bull asked Verstappen to give up the place to Russell, apparently because the team expected Verstappen would be given a penalty. The stewards later ruled they wouldn’t have taken action against the Dutch driver for that incident.
Risking a suspension
Verstappen needs to be careful in the next two races because the penalty for the collision with Russell also brought him penalty points on his license, taking him to 11 in the last 12 months. Drivers get a one-race suspension if they hit 12 points in a year.
Two of those points expire at the end of the month, but until then Verstappen needs to get through the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix without any further penalty points.