ROLAND GARROS

June 4, 2025

Lois Boisson

Press Conference

L. BOISSON/M. Andreeva

7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Lois, congratulations. You came in as a wildcard. You defeated a top-10 player on Monday, second one today, and now you have reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time. How does that feel?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, it's really incredible for me to do that. I'm so happy to be in the semifinal here. I hope that it will continue.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. You're playing all these different players I'm assuming for the first time, players that you have probably largely seen on television. How do you prepare for them? They are all so different. They're on such a different level. I mean, it's their problem too, because they have to prepare for someone they have never played before, as well. I'm curious, how much time do you spend paying attention to, say, Coco for tomorrow versus thinking about yourself?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, the preparation is pretty much the same, like if I play a, I don't know, 300 player or a player top 10, the preparation is the same. We analyze the game of the player, and I do what I have to do with my game plan, and that's it. The preparation is the same.

Q. At the start of this tournament, what did you actually want from this tournament? What did you think you were capable coming into this tournament? How does it compare to what you have achieved?

LOIS BOISSON: I don't understand.

Q. At the start of this tournament what did you want from this tournament? What did you think you were capable of achieving? How does it compare to what you have achieved?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, I don't know. Let's see. Tomorrow I play the semifinal, and then I don't know what will happen in the future. So let's see.

I will play my match tomorrow, and let's see what's happen. I cannot say anything about it.

Q. Whatever happens tomorrow, it's been a breakthrough tournament. You're up to 65 in the world now. You could get a Wimbledon wildcard off the back of this. Other slams will know you. Whatever happens tomorrow, how exciting is this for your career and the spinoffs that you will now enjoy?

LOIS BOISSON: I don't really think about what will be next, you know, the ranking, Wimbledon, and everything. I just try to stay focus in this tournament now. I really enjoy everything that I leave here on the court and outside the court.

So I will see this after. For now I just have to prepare the match of tomorrow.

Q. I wonder, how is it for you to deal with all this, with all the attention, the media, the crowd? Does it come natural for you to be in the spotlight like this, or was it something you had to prepare yourself for and to work on when you continually won in this tournament?

LOIS BOISSON: No, like I say, I stay in my zone. I stay focused on the tournament, so I don't really think about everything outside. I don't really watch the social media and everything. I just stay focused, and I will see all this kind of thing after the tournament.

Q. I just wondered what you're most proud about from yourself from this run so far?

LOIS BOISSON: I just proud of myself, because was really tough for me to go into the semifinal. Every matches was really tough. So I'm just proud about how it ends every time. Just like I finished the match, and that's it. I just proud about what I do on the court.

Q. A lot of French players in the past have struggled or found it difficult to do well at Roland Garros. They think it's a lot of pressure, but you seem to be playing with no pressure. Would that be true?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, no, I think every player have pressure, you know. Maybe most for French player that play in Roland Garros, for sure.

But it's also like you have to deal with, because if not, you cannot win any matches. So I just try to do my best about it, and yeah, I have some pressure, but I can deal with it. It's okay.

Q. How much, when you're on court against these top-10 players and you're playing another top-10 player in the next round also, how much does it feel like the same sort of tennis you have always played, and how much does it feel like a new level that you have to reach during these matches?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, for sure, it's really tough to play against this kind of player. You have to be focused in every ball. You don't have to miss -- like if you miss two, three balls, then you start to feel, okay, she's coming back, and I have to be in, you know. Like if I go out, I cannot win that kind of match. So that's why I try to stay really focused on the match.

Q. About the crowd, everybody in this room would be absolutely horrified if we had to appear in front of 15,000 people. How do you deal with that at all? You cannot prepare for that, can you?

LOIS BOISSON: No, for me the crowd is really not something that put pressure on me, because they are with me. It's just like I love to play with the crowd. I love to heard my name when I won a point and everything.

For me it's just something plus. It's not pressure, but I think it's also really difficult for other player from other country.

No, for me it's really nice to have them.

Q. There were some who were saying, Oh, what a miracle, what a miracle. Do you believe in miracles, or do you think this performance is a result of just hard work and great skill?

LOIS BOISSON: No, I don't think it's a miracle. For sure, I have a little bit of luck also, but I think it's just, as you said, the hard work that I put since I started playing tennis and also last year with my rehab and everything. It's just result of hard work. Nothing else.

Q. When you were a kid, did you dream of something like this happening to you at Roland Garros? If so, is the reality living up to the dream?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, for sure. I think every kids who play tennis have the dream to win a slam. More for French player to win Roland Garros, for sure.

So, yeah, it's a dream. For sure I will go for the dream, because my dream is to win it, not to be in the semifinal. So I will try to do my best for it.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. I think that "resilience" is a meaningful word for you now. How did you manage to turn the ship around, especially at 3-0 during the second set?

LOIS BOISSON: There was a lot of pressure on both of us at the beginning. I felt that it was tense on my side, but also on her side, I think. It was quite tough, especially when I was down 5-3, but I knew that I could change the momentum. I just needed to continue what I needed to do, and I overcame everything.

Q. You talked about the way you have prepped for tomorrow's match, but you said that you analyze your opponent's game. Is it more the tactics that you're going to prepare, or are you going to focus on recovery? What are you going to do in the few hours leading you to tomorrow's match?

LOIS BOISSON: It's especially recovery. I'm going to do a lot of treatment, because I'm playing tomorrow. It's back-to-back.

And also, my coach will analyze the opponent's game. We'll discuss then what kind of game plan I should apply and adjust my game. But my game will be quite the same, and we'll just play my usual tennis.

Q. When you hear your name being chanted by the crowd and "La Marseillaise" is national anthem, how do you manage to draw the energy from the crowd?

LOIS BOISSON: Well, I didn't think that I would hear "La Marseillaise" is when I was warming up. It gave me the chill, I have to say.

But it was extraordinary to have the crowd supporting me so much. Even though sometimes it's a bit raucous and there is a lot of noise between two points, but the crowd is supporting me and pushing me, and it's great.

Q. At the end of the match, you actually lie down on the clay court. You seem to maintain your composure throughout the match. Is it that at the end of the match it was so huge that you were overwhelmed, and you thought, Oh, my God, it's the semifinals? It's becoming even more important and maybe you were overwhelmed? Is it for this reason that actually you lay down on the ground?

LOIS BOISSON: Not really. I'm not gonna lie down every time at the end of every match, no, but I was quite tense throughout this match. I tried to maintain my composure and to keep it together, and it needed to be out at one point.

Q. On the way you handle matches, you said that this match was quite tense, and we can understand it because this was a quarterfinal, but for all professional tennis players every match is tense. Even at the ITF level there is tension. I'm asking you about how you handle your emotions, ups and downs, what you have lived through, what you experienced this week. Is it different from the ITF Tour when you have a breakpoint, a setpoint? Do you feel just as stressful as before, or is it just the same?

LOIS BOISSON: Maybe here or elsewhere it's the same, it's a tennis match. You try to handle the best possible way. Then it's just what I found harder since I came back on the tour, it's to find a way to handle the crucial moments and the more I have a deep run and the more I see that I can actually handle that well, and it's wonderful that it goes this way.

Q. Your previous coaches would describe you as a young player with a short temper, but it seems that you are quite poised here. Second question, we were wondering how we would actually write down your name. Since you come from Dijon, how would we write your name? It's actually with two dots?

LOIS BOISSON: Yes, it's with two dots.

When I started playing tennis, I was quite nervous on the court. I was very emotional, too emotional. It was undermining my game.

Now, after that I understood that I wouldn't go far if I continued this way. So, as I said, when I sustained my injury, I had some time to think things over, and it's helping me now to handle my emotions.

Q. A lot of observers think that you have an unprecedented game, especially with your topspin forehand. Do you think that you have one-of-a-kind weapons?

LOIS BOISSON: My game has always been this way with a lot of variety. The more I practice and throughout the years, I actually fine-tune my game. My forehand, well, maybe my ball is a bit different from the other girls', but I've always played this way throughout the years, throughout practice sessions. The more I play, the better it will be.

Q. When you say you have worked on yourself during your down time, can you say what you actually worked on?

LOIS BOISSON: Not really, but it's rather that I worked with a psychotherapist. I was made aware of some important things. Something that we can actually reproduce on court is to become aware of things and to set them up.