French Open 2025 Women’s Day 9

Jessica Pegula suffered a French Open ambush on Monday as the American third seed lost 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to French wild card Lois Boisson to exit the fourth round.

Pegula went down to the WTA No. 361 who had recent knee problems and missed 10 months of early-career play due to right shoulder surgery.

The local outsider was making her Grand Slam main draw debut and playing for the first time on the Chatrier showcourt. She also clocked her first victory over a top 20 opponent as she stunned No. 3 Pegula.

The upset featured nine deuces over the final two games.

Boisson completed her upset in a shade under two and three-quarter hours, keeping Pegula and on the run in the tight final set.

The French player lost an early third-set break and saved four break points in the final game before sending Pegula fruitlessly chasing a forehand winner to the corner on first match point.

Boisson, 22, had failed to qualify here in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

The Frenchwoman last made the headlines in “Deodorant Gate” at the Rouen event last month when she beat Harriet Dart who complained to the umpire that she needed to use deodorant.

The last French wildcard to reach the Roland Garros last eight was Mary Pierce in 2002. She becomes the lowest ranked player to reach s Grand Slam quarter-final since Kaia Kanepi at the US Open eight years ago.

US compatriot Coco Gauff was not lacking in confidence after reaching the French Open quarter-finals for the fifth straight year, defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-0, 7-5.

“Overall, I thought I played great,” the American said. “I move well on clay, I’m comfortable with the sliding.

“This is the most physical surface and I do great in that department.”

Gauff needed less than 30 minutes to sweep the opening set but met stiffened resistance in the second set before finally prevailing after another hour on court.

Roland Garros does appear to be the Floridian’s happy place as she won her 24th match here – the most of any tournament for her.

Teenaged sixth seed Mirra Andreeva matched her 2024 quarter-final with a 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Daria Kasatkina.

The pair are close but the 18-year-old Andreeva admits she gets nervous playing the Australian.

“I’m so, so happy I won, I just hate playing her, even practices are a torture for me,” she only half-joked.

“This was a hell of a match, I was able to stay calm in the second set. She raised and I had to fight to continue to play my game.

“I continued to believe in myself. I knew the match would be tough, so I’m glad to be back in the quarter-finals.”

She added: “I feel like she reads where I’m going to play. She knows when I’m

gonna hit a dropshot, which side. We had a lot of long points, and I felt like I was running from corner to corner a lot.”

Andreeva, a Paris semi-finalist a year ago, now stands 22-8 at the four majors; she is the youngest player to reach back-to-back quarters here since Swiss Martina Hingis (1997-1998).

She will bid for the semis against Boisson.

Kasatkina will leave Paris satisfied with her result after a tough run-up period and a jolting change of nationality to Australian.

“This week I felt back on track. All the four matches I played I felt as usual, normal. 

“I was showing pretty good tennis. So, obviously it’s super positive sign, because when a person is struggling or having a little crisis, it’s tough to get out of it.”  

Australian Open holder Madison Keys American compatriot Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5 to complete the fourth round programme.