By Julia Andersen, CNN

(CNN) — After an unfortunate first foray into the spotlight in April (yes, that infamous Harriet Dart deodorant moment), Lois Boisson is finally in the headlines for all the right reasons.

The Frenchwoman entered Roland Garros as a wild card. She’s currently ranked No. 361 in the world. And on Monday, Boisson came back from a set down to beat world No. 3 Jessica Pegula to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open. She can now add French Open semifinalist to her rapidly-growing CV after beating sixth-ranked Mirra Andreeva in straight sets 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Boisson’s victory over the teenager means she will now climb as high as No. 68 in the world after the tournament.

The 22-year-old was the lowest-ranked player to reach the fourth found at Roland Garros since Serena Williams sat at world No. 451 when she made her grand slam return in 2018 after giving birth to her first daughter, according to the WTA.

That’s not the only Serena record Boisson has matched in Paris. The Frenchwoman is the first player ranked outside the top-300 to defeat at least two top-10 competitors in a single tournament since Williams achieved the feat in Chicago in 1997, per Opta.

And the records don’t stop there for the emerging talent. After becoming the lowest-ranked player to reach the quarterfinals at a major since 418th-ranked Kaia Kanepi at the 2017 US Open, Boisson is now the lowest-ranked women’s semifinalist at a grand slam in 40 years.

With her victory over Pegula, Boisson became the first women’s singles player in 17 years to reach the quarterfinals in her grand slam main draw debut since Carla Suárez Navarro at Roland Garros. Now, she’s only the third women’s player to make a semifinal at her first major since Monica Seles in 1989 and Jennifer Capriati in 1990.

Talk about announcing yourself to the world – and in your home nation.

The Dijon-born player made her WTA Tour debut in 2021 and won her first WTA 125 title in May 2024 in Saint-Malo.

In addition to the title, she was on an 18-match win streak in the ITF series and reached a ranking of 152. Her run of performances meant she was expected to make her Roland Garros main draw debut, but an ACL injury a week before the start of the tournament took her out of action for nine months.

After her ACL and meniscus surgery, Boisson posted about her rollercoaster month on Instagram: “I was going to play the tournaments that I have dreamed of since I started playing tennis. 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. The shock is violent, I didn’t imagined the rest of the season this way…But this is the path that life has decided to give me, now it’s time for discipline to get back to the top !”

Since her return at the end of February, she achieved her first career win against a player in the top 25 in Elise Mertens – and now her first win against a player in the top five against Pegula – both feats coming in her first attempts. That’s two wins in two matches against opponents with 17 career WTA singles titles between them.

Boisson is the last French representative remaining in the men’s and women’s singles draws – and has been since making it into the round of 16.

Boisson will face world No. 2 Coco Gauff in the semis where she will look to continue her fairy tale run and attempt to make the showpiece finale at her home grand slam.

The-CNN-Wire
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