Boisson and Jacquemot provide ray of light for French tennis at Roland Garros

Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on May 30, after second-round wins by Lois Boisson and Elsa Jacquemot. Since then, Boisson edged Jacquemot in an all-French third round, 6-3, 0-6, 7-5, and stunned No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals. Ranked No. 361, she’s now the lowest-ranked player to beat a Top 5 opponent at a Grand Slam since Serena Williams upset No. 2 Anett Kontaveit at the 2022 US Open.

Boisson is the first Frenchwoman to reach the Roland Garros quarterfinals since Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in 2017, and the first player to reach the quarterfinals in her first Grand Slam main draw since Carla Suárez Navarro at Roland Garros 2008.

As this year's edition of Roland Garros approached, French women's tennis was in need of a boost.

At the end of March, Caroline Garcia fell out of the Top 100, leaving Varvara Gracheva as the country's sole representative in that echelon -- the lowest number of Top 100 Frenchwomen since 1981. Former WTA Finals champion Garcia announced her imminent retirement last week.

Roland Garros: Draws | Scores | 411

A pair of wild cards, Elsa Jacquemot and Lois Boisson, have provided a ray of light. On Thursday, the pair of 22-year-olds both scored impressive second-round wins.

Day 7 preview: French wild cards aim for rare second-week run at Roland Garros

No. 361-ranked Boisson backed up her first-round upset of No. 24 seed Elise Mertens by routing Anhelina Kalinina 6-1, 6-2, pummeling 30 winners (to only nine unforced errors) to win in just 62 minutes.

Later, No. 138 Elsa Jacquemot bounced back after dropping a tense second set to Alycia Parks. She had served for the match at 5-4 and held three match points, only to see the American erase them with clean winners. Undeterred, Jacquemot dominated the third to seal a 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-1 win.

Boisson and Jacquemot, who first played each other in a Grade 2 junior event in Istres eight years ago, will now meet with a place in the second week of their home Grand Slam at stake. Jacquemot  won both of their junior encounters and their only pro matchup, three years ago in an ITF W25 in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.

"It means a lot, yet not a lot at the same time because I have big ambitions," Jacquemot said. "It's in France. It's in Roland, so it makes me happy. The crowd is really backing us. It's cool. I love it."

Both players have delivered crowd-pleasing tennis. Jacquemot's signature is her phenomenal speed around the court. Boisson's is her lethal topspin forehand -- but the path to their showdown has been filled with ups and downs. Jacquemot was the Roland Garros girls' champion and junior No. 1 in 2020, and five years later has not gone higher than No. 137. Her year-end ranking has improved incrementally every season, but her tour-level record to date is just 5-15, with two of those wins coming this week.

Jacquemot admitted that she had been complacent after her stellar junior career.

"There have been some difficult times," she said. "At the beginning, I thought it would be easy. There was no competition. Then I had some defeats. It wasn't easy for me. I think that what's important is to get up after this and say you're allowed to lose, although it's not easy psychologically.

"Is the pathway long? I think we each have our own pathway. I'm not old. I'm only 22. I'm not saying there's a long pathway between my juniors and now. I think that's the pathway I've come on. I want to play in the Top 100, Top 50 and Top 10. But I try to be positive and say, 'OK, this is my current ranking, I'm worth it, I'm going to work even harder to get over the next hurdle.'"

Last year, Boisson also wrote about the importance of hard work and discipline -- but in a very different context. She had not been a star junior like Jacquemot, peaking at No. 171, but in early 2024 seemed to be storming towards a pro breakthrough after winning 31 of her first 37 matches of the year, including the Saint-Malo WTA 125 trophy.

A Roland Garros debut wild card was beckoning -- only for Boisson to tear her ACL two weeks beforehand. Instead of playing her first Grand Slam, Boisson was confined to a hospital bed, and would be sidelined for the next nine months.

"In the space of a week I went from 'collapsed' to the ground, the joy of winning my first WTA title, to 'collapsed' to the ground because my knee gave out and the pain was immense," she wrote on social media. "But this is the path that life has decided to give me, now it's time for discipline to get back to the top!"

In the aftermath of the injury, Boisson's spirits were lifted by messages from fellow WTA players -- particularly Daria Saville, who had her own history of ACL issues. The Australian was one of the first to offer advice, and Boisson was inspired by her own journey as well.

"She really helped me a lot because she had the same experience," Boisson said earlier this week. "I asked her quite a few questions. She really supported me during my rehabilitation. I know that happened to her and she came back and she's playing very well. That really made me confident that I could come back also."

Almost exactly a year after composing her emotional post, Boisson was rewarded for her persistence with "a feeling that is impossible to describe" after edging Mertens in the first round, her first career Top 30 win.

"Just the fact of being here today makes me happy," she said. "It took a long time. I wasn't sure that I would get here. The win has a different taste today. All of the work that we've done has led to this win."

Though Jacquemot and Boisson both grew up in the same area of France, they rarely trained together as children. Only recently have their paths been crossing on a regular basis. Now, they'll cross on the biggest stage yet. Jacquemot pointed out that the fervent crowd support, a key factor in both of their routes to the third round, will now be split.

"It's not easy to play against a French player at Roland because the crowd won't be behind me as much," she said. "I think it will be quite equal between both players."