Key events
Second set: Boisson 1-6, 1-1 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
Boisson has the word “resilience” tattooed on her arm and maybe she catches a glimpse of it, because a well-constructed point helps her to 30-0 on her serve. Which becomes quarante-zero when Gauff nets a return. Boisson gets the love hold when her shot clips the baseline, bouncing up unkindly for Gauff, who’s caught by surprise and can’t get the ball back.
Second set: Boisson* 1-6, 0-1 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Boisson briefly leaves the court. When she returns Gauff is serving with new balls. As if Gauff needs any more assistance. 15-0, 30-0, 40-0. There’s some brief French resistance as Boisson flashes a forehand winner. But that’s as good as it gets for the home hope, with Gauff holding to 15.
Gauff wins the first set 6-1
“It’s not a good match-up for Boisson,” says the superb Evert. “There’s really nothing she can do to hurt Coco with her game. Coco is such a great retriever and attacker.” The only real vulnerability in Gauff’s game is the forehand, but that’s working so well at the moment. Evert also notes that Gauff’s extreme forehand grip means she struggles to dig out the low balls, but with Boisson’s top-spin heavy forehands kicking up high, that helps Gauff. And here’s a set point for Gauff at 30-40. Boisson biffs a backhand into the net and it’s the American in Paris who’s very much in command.
First set: Boisson* 1-5 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Gauff has done such a good job of keeping the crowd quiet so far, but that’ll change very quickly if the score becomes closer. And the American will be very aware of that. That was what largely led to Andreeva’s and Pegula’s downfalls against the Frenchwoman. But the rain hammering on the roof is probably making more noise than the Parisian patrons right now. At 30-all, Boisson shows impressive athleticism to get to Gauff’s smash, but Gauff gets another chance at the overhead and makes no mistake. 40-30. Game.
First set: Boisson 1-4 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
Chris Evert notes on the commentary that Boisson is trying to keep the points as short as possible to avoid too many long rallies with Gauff. That’s mainly out of respect to her opponent, but she must also be feeling tired after her exploits this fortnight. But at 30-15, Boisson does come out on top in a prolonged exchange and she has game points on her serve for the first time in this match. And Boisson is on the board when Gauff nets a return!
First set: Boisson* 0-4 Gauff (*denotes next server)
… and when Gauff gets her own advantage, Boisson’s shot clips the net and trickles over! Deuce. Advantage Gauff. Jeu Gauff. Cue a collective sigh. But there were at least some green, or more accurately red, shoots on the court for Boisson with those break points. Can she build on those and get herself on the scoreboard?
Worryingly for Boisson, Gauff is such a good frontrunner – but Boisson rallied from behind in the quarter-finals, having trailed in the first set against Andreeva, saving two set points, and she was also down in the second. Boisson shows some fight to get to 15-30 on Gauff’s serve … and here’s the first deafening chant of “LOIS, LOIS, LOIS, LOIS, LOIS, LOIS” as Boisson grabs two points to get one of the breaks back at 15-40. Gauff saves the first break point with a forehand winner – Boisson concedes the second with a limp drop shot. But Boisson sets up a third break point with a blistering backhand cross-court winner! After a long exchange, Boisson’s lob lands long …
Gauff breaks: Boisson 0-3 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
The French crowd are cheering on Boisson, more in hope than belief, when she drops two break points down at 15-40. A second serve from Gauff down the T sets up the rally … and Gauff’s forehand down the line is too hot for Boisson to handle. Gauff has the double break after only 12 minutes.
First set: *Boisson 0-2 Gauff (*denotes next server)
Boisson has a different game to most on tour, with her heavy, top-spin forehand, which bounces up so high on the clay; her big serve and her kicker on the second; and her lovely sliced backhand; and her other weapon today, of course, is the crowd. She’s so fit and strong – she clearly did a lot of weights in the gym during her knee rehab – I, for one, wish I had those biceps. Boisson will need to target Gauff’s fallible forehand – because Gauff has just about everything else, including one of the best backhands in the business, superb athleticism and remarkable right. Already Boisson’s task is laid bare, as Gauff commandingly holds to 15, the only point for Boisson won when she sends Gauff from corner to corner.
Gauff breaks: Boisson 0-1 Gauff* (*denotes next server)
Mesdames et messieurs, Boisson will serve first. And Gauff immediately silences the crowd with a perfectly placed lob! The umpire’s only just got into his chair, but he’s out of it after the second point to check a call. He confirms Gauff’s shot was out. 15-all. The roof remains on for this match, which Boisson will be pleased about, as it’ll amplify the atmosphere. But I don’t think Gauff will let the crowd affect her in the way Andreeva did against Boisson yesterday. As if to prove this, Gauff ignores the excitement that greets a Boisson drop-shot winner to carve out a break point at 30-40. And another at her advantage. And she’s greeted by the sound of silence when she breaks!
Prediction time. Unsurprisingly, these two have never faced each other before, given Boisson had played only two matches on the main tour before this tournament. If Gauff is as hit and miss as she was yesterday against Keys, Boisson definitely has a chance. But Boisson is likely to be mentally and physically tired after her exploits this fortnight; it’s been the biggest two weeks of her life. And she’s back on court only 24 hours after her quarter-final win. I’m backing Gauff.
I loved Boisson’s comments after her win over Andreeva yesterday. It would be easy for her to dwell on what she’s already achieved – but she wants more. “I think every kid who plays tennis has the dream to win a grand slam,” she said. “ More for a French player to win Roland Garros, for sure. I will go for the dream, because my dream is to win it, not to be in the semi-final. So I will try to do my best for it.
“I don’t think it’s a miracle. I’ve had a little bit of luck, but I think it’s just the hard work that I put in since I started playing tennis and also last year with my rehab and everything. It’s the result of hard work. Nothing else.”
So many stats.
-
Boisson had won just one (!) match on the WTA Tour before this tournament.
-
She’s guaranteed to jump at least 300 places in the world rankings to about 65 for reaching the semi-finals – and will go further if she wins today.
-
She’s gone from the French No 24 to No 1 in less than a fortnight
-
She’s playing in semi-finals after beating three seeds, including two in the top 10, in Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva.
-
She’s the first French semi-finalist since Marion Bartoli in 2011.
And here they come, Boisson ahead of Gauff, as the crowd will hope it remains throughout. Boisson gets the far bigger cheer, pour le change. Gauff whips off her leather jacket for the coin toss, and the crowd are already going crazy. Just wait until Boisson wins her first point …
But Coco Gauff is the model of consistency in Paris. For the world No 2 this is her third semi-final in four years at Roland Garros. Having lost in the 2022 final, this time she’s come for the title. She has so much experience, it feels as if she’s 31 rather than 21. And the American knows how to win a slam, having done so at the US Open two years ago. Despite her inconsistent win over Madison Keys in the quarter-finals, she’s very much the favourite to halt this most unexpected of French revolutions.
It goes to show what a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago Swiatek had secured her third French Open title on the spin – now here she is pondering where she goes next. Meanwhile this time last year Lois Boisson was sitting at home, unable to bring herself to watch her home grand slam, having been prevented from taking up the wildcard she’d been offered after tearing her ACL a week before. And today, as the world No 361 and on her slam debut, she’s the first wildcard in the Open era to play in the French Open last four, the lowest-ranked slam semi-finalist in 40 years and only the third player since 1980 to reach the semi-final at her first major tournament after Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati. It really is one of the most incroyable and joyeux breakthroughs tennis has ever seen.
Merci beaucoup! Wow. Swiatek rarely loses a set at Roland Garros, let alone by a 6-0 scoreline. Sabalenka hit 0 unforced errors in that set. It’ll be fascinating to see how Swiatek recovers from this, now her aura is totally gone. Will she be like Borg? Or will she find a way to recover? Not only is the 24-year-old’s long French Open reign over, her run without a title will stretch to more than a year.
That, then is me – that’s the good news – and the better news is Katy’s here to bring you Loïs Boisson v Coco Gauff (2). Paix dehors et à demain!
Sabalenka is happy to be in the final but knows the job isn’t done yet. She’s “thrilled” by her performance and the atmosphere in the stadium, which “makes us feel amazing.”
Swiatek, she says, is the toughest opponent, especially on clay, and she’s proud to have won a “streaky match”. She’s glad she found her serve in the third set and you can’t get more perfect than a 6-0 set.
She doesn’t plan to watch the next semi today – her team will – then they’ll watch it together tomorrow. Otherwise, she jokes that she’s not sure she wants Boisson to win knowing how fervently the crowd support her, and off she toddles, into the Farench Open final for the first time in her career. It will not be the last.
I’m not totally sure what happened there. It’d be easy to say Sabalenka upped the power and Swiatek couldn’t cope, but that wouldn’t explain the champ’s inability to simply get balls into court 0 it was more of a collapse than a mauling. My guess is that after dominating the second set, she felt the match was on her racket, relaxed her focus just a little, and wasn’t able to regain it when her opponent improved.
Aryan Sabalenka (1) beats Iga Swiatek (5) 7-6(1) 4-6 6-0
Sabalenka 7-6(1) 4-6 6-0 Swiatek* Swiatek’s Roland Garros winning streak stands at 26 matches, frankly ludicrous behaviour. But sometimes, when it goes it goes quickly, and she’s soon down 15-30, Sabalenka’s hitting too much for her. Oooh and have a look, a forehand return bounces just inside the baseline, and the world no 1 has two match points! Swiatek’s first serve is called out, her second is almost apologetic, and quite rightly spanked back at her for a clean winner! IGA SWIATEK’S 26-GAME WINNING STREAK IS OVER! THERE WILL BE NO FOUR-PEAT, BUT THERE WILL BE A NEW CHAMPION!
*Sabalenka 7-6(1) 4-6 5-0 Swiatek gosh, Swiatek is crumbling here, unable to hit a ball into court. On the one had, she’s seen it all before, but on the other, the stress of looking for a fourth title in a row must be extreme; I wonder if she relaxed after levelling the match, taking her head out of things, because Sabalenka isn’t blitzing her, she’s just doing normal stuff like hitting the ball inside the lines.
Sabalenka 7-6(1) 4-6 4-0 Swiatek* Down 0-15, Swiatek shanks a backhand way wide, and she’ll be feeling her fingers loosened, title being prised from her monomaniacal grasp. and when she goes long from the back, the match – and what a strange one it is – feels almost over. Shonuff, Swiatek again overhits, Sabalenka having taken 16 of 20 points played in this set, and a double break up, the match is hers to lose. One of the greatest existing runs in sport is on the brink!
*Sabalenka 7-6(1) 4-6 3-0 Swiatek Two big first serves make 30-0 and another takes us to 40; this is terrific behaviour from the world no 1, once so weak in the clutch but now pretty nails. And though Swiatek makes 145, another first serve, backed up by a wrong-footing backhand winner, mean that she’s three games from the final.
Sabalenka 7-6(1) 4-6 2-0 Swiatek* Up 15-0, Swiatek is called for a double, the umpire checks the mark … and the call was correct, the ball wide. A longer rally follows, exactly what the champ wants – she’s won 20/27 of those lasting longer than five shots – and when she hares in to meet a drop, her response is too good. As we said earlier, it took her a while with the roof closes, but she’s managing to make this more of a clay-court match now, looking to break sidelines and make her opponent play an extra ball whenever possible. However, while I’m pontificating she loses two points in a row for 30-40, Sabalenka seizing control of the next one with a wrong-footing forehand that whistles over the net; Swiatek can only net in response and are we watching the decisive move being made?
*Sabalenka 7-6(1) 4-6 1-0 Swiatek I’m surprised Sabalenka didn’t nip out between sets, just to reset, but she quickly gets us going again, making 30-0 when Swiatek can’t decide how to put away a ball that should go. Nevertheless we’re soon at 30-all, the champ sticking in a point that Sabalenka should finish, first picking the wrong side with a putaway, then playing a retrievable drop. No matter: a brilliant forehand winner is followed by a service winner, and that’s a huge hold secured.
Iga Swiatek wins the second set 6-4
Sabalenka 7-6(1) 4-6 Swiatek* Swiatek quickly makes 15-0, then wins a net exchange that Sabalenka ought really to have taken; the problem she has is that finesse isn’t her strongest point and Swiatek has quicker feet, eyes and hands. It’s soon 40-0, two booming forehands wrest control of the next rally, and she’s into the net to tap away a volley, thus completing a fine set (of tennis) from the three-time defending champ. Sabalenka needs to find something; simply playing better doesn’t sort this for her.
*Sabalenka 7-6(1) 4-5 Swiatek Ooh yeah, now it’s Sabalenka disguising a drop. It gives her 40-15, a huge serve follows, and Swiatek will have to serve for a decider. She’s looked good in this set, but the pressure now is very different to the pressure previously.
Sabalenka 7-6(1) 3-5 Swiatek* At change of ends, Swiatek chides the umpire for being unfair – she won’t know that Hawkeye said the ball was out, which is a shame given the potential needle if she did. A terrific point from Sabalenka, finished at the net, then makes 15-all, but a good serve and clean-up forehand quickly restores Swiatek’s advantage. And from there, she serves it out in short order, momentum with her and Sabalenka now serving to stay in the set.
