Coco Gauff ends French wild card Lois Boisson’s fairytale run to set up Roland Garros final against Aryna Sabalenka

Second seed Coco Gauff ended French wild card Lois Boisson’s fairytale run at the Roland Garros this year to reach her second final at the French Open. The American produced a masterclass 6-1, 6-2 win in just 69 minutes to set up a finale against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who earlier in the evening, beat defending champion Iga Swiatek in three sets. 

Ranked 361st in the world, Boisson, who had missed the opportunity to play in the French Open last year after she tore her left ACL, downed world number three Jessica Pegula and Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in the previous rounds to become the first wild card in the Open Era to reach the semifinals at the Roland Garros and the third woman in the last four decades to make the penultimate round in her Grand Slam debut. But the 22-year-old looked deflated against Gauff.

Boisson briefly managed to raise the hopes of the home crowd after she broke back in the second set. Bu as she struggled for the consistency of earlier rounds, Gauff soon seized control again with her fifth break of the match for a 4-2 edge. Boisson could not produce one last act of defying the odds as Gauff pocketed the final two games to seal a comfortable victory.

“When you guys were chanting her name, I was thinking my name,” Gauff told the crowd in her on-court interview.

“Obviously there’s still a lot of work to do, but for now I’ll enjoy this one and then prepare for the final tomorrow.”