ROLAND GARROS

June 2, 2025

Lois Boisson

Press Conference

L. BOISSON/J. Pegula

3-6, 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Lois, congratulations. Playing on Philippe Chatrier on your debut at a Grand Slam in front of your home crowd, you defeated a top-10 player for the first time and reached the quarterfinals of this Grand Slam. How are your emotions right now?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, it's really amazing for me to do that. I'm so proud of me and of my team. I hope to go to win more matches here.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.

Q. Can I ask, if I'd have asked you two weeks ago and said this would happen for you, what would you have said? Would you have believed that?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, no, for sure I will not believe that if you tell me that two weeks ago. But I trust in myself, but yeah, for sure, if you say that, no, I can't believe. Now it's that, and I'm so happy about it.

Q. Your ranking obviously is still pretty low, so how important was it for you to get the wildcard here? What does it mean for you as a French player to get this chance to play at a home tournament even with a lower ranking?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, for sure, it's a big chance for a French player to have a Grand Slam in our country. I really thanks the FFT for that, because without this wildcard I cannot play this tournament, so it's unbelievable to have it.

I take my chance, and I will go further.

Q. Was there a moment in the match that you started thinking, Okay, maybe, maybe I'm able to do it, maybe I can win her? Was there a specific moment you thought or just from the beginning?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, from the beginning, I trust in myself, but for sure, when she won the first set, was a little bit down for me.

But when I come back and won the second set, yeah, I start to really think about it, but I also stay in my game plan and don't try to think a lot about it.

Q. How did you prepare yourself for playing on a stage that big, 15,000 people? I mean, I imagine you have never done anything like that before this week, and I know you have had matches on one of the other stadiums, but still, nothing quite like this. What did you tell yourself about walking onto that court and what you needed to think in order to stay calm and just play a tennis match?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, I also had the chance to play on Simonne Mathieu two days ago, so start to be a big stadium. But yeah, when I came on the court this morning to do the warmup, was, like, incredible for me. You know, I watch the stadium, and I told to myself, Okay, I will play matches on this court, but it's okay. It's a court like every court. Just unbelievable to see what's behind.

Q. On the wildcard, were you surprised to get the wildcard at all, or did you expect it? And what do you think of your possibilities to go even further in this tournament?

LOIS BOISSON: Can you repeat?

Q. Did you expect the wildcard? And also, how much further do you think you can go? You have a quarterfinal to play now. You can keep winning.

LOIS BOISSON: I didn't expect anything, because we don't know every time if we will get it or not, so I prefer to didn't expect it.

Yeah, when I receive it, I was really happy. Yeah, I hope to go further, like, to win if I can. I will try to do my best, and let's see.

Q. Had you been in Chatrier before you went for that this morning?

LOIS BOISSON: I practiced one time when I play my first French Open four years ago, when I did the qually. I had the chance to play just one time on this court, like, one hour.

But yeah, I had the chance to warm up also this morning, so yeah.

Q. What was your reaction when you walked out, though, for the match and looked around?

LOIS BOISSON: Yeah, like the same. Was amazing, because the stadium is amazing. But I try to stay in my zone, you know, to don't think about it, and that's it.

Q. When was it that your knee actually became healthy enough for you to start playing again? How long was it and when was it that you felt confident that you could play on the knee without hurting it again very quickly?

LOIS BOISSON: When I restart to play tournaments, so it was in February this year. So when I restart, I was okay with the knee, and I feel confident 100% to play.

Q. Did you have the chance to meet Dembele?

LOIS BOISSON: No.

Q. Would you like to see him maybe?

LOIS BOISSON: I don't really watch football, and I don't really know things about football, so no, it's okay for me if I don't see him (smiling), because I will not know what ask about him.

Yeah, they won two days ago, and it's unbelievable for the French.

Q. I don't know much about your background, so can you talk a little bit about how you started playing tennis, and your play style really suits this kind of surface. You hit many slices and topspins. So can you talk about how you developed that kind of a play style?

LOIS BOISSON: I start playing tennis when I was 8 years old, and yeah, when I was young, I play a lot on clay court, so that's why I think I love this surface and why I did... I don't know how to say... my game is like this today maybe because I used to play a lot on clay court when I was young.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Can you tell us about the support from the public? You started when the court was three-quarters empty and then people started coming in. Did this help you?

LOIS BOISSON: Yes, in the beginning, even though there weren't many, you can still hear them on center court. But for the third set, it was full. It was incredible.

As soon as a point was tight, it would be really incredible.

Q. You were hoping to play on the Chatrier like one of your idols, Rafael Nadal. This time you won on the Chatrier. How did you come in? Did your arm get relaxed very quickly? Did you feel the weight of the court?

LOIS BOISSON: No, when I came in, I didn't feel any more pressure than for other matches. The more matches I play here, the better I feel. My arm was rather relaxed.

For the last two games, it was rather tense, and I made a few mistakes because of the pressure, but in the final analysis, well, it went through, and that's what's important.

Q. We saw you take the lead and then you were playing more lobs and pushing her, forcing her to hit outside the court. Even when you were leading, you were staying far from the line. Did you have trouble finding your marks, or did you sometimes have trouble advancing when you were leading with your forehand?

LOIS BOISSON: No, she was returning very well. She wasn't playing very long, but I couldn't get into the court more and because I wanted to return, as well.

Q. We feel that you really felt great at the time of the celebration.

LOIS BOISSON: Well, for the match point, I really felt very tense, and when I saw that my forehand was a winner, well, the whole pressure went off. I was just so happy to win and to be able to play a quarterfinals.

Q. We haven't got many players who are pure clay court players. Usually the profile of the players are really versatile. You seem to be a specialist in clay. How did you develop this appetite for clay? You said it a little bit earlier, but can you tell us how you developed this?

LOIS BOISSON: Well, I feel I played a lot on that surface. The more you play, the more you adapt to the surface. After all, I have a game style that fits the surface very well, so this is my favorite surface.

So as soon as the clay season starts, this is when I feel best and when I feel happiest.

Q. Roland Garros is a tournament you used to watch a lot when you were young? Being here, are you dreaming awake, or what is it?

LOIS BOISSON: Well, yes, Roland Garros is a dream and it's a goal, so being in the quarterfinals is already a step ahead. Obviously, it's absolutely great for me to have such a run. I couldn't hope for anything better when I came here.

Q. I was wondering what happened in your mind when for the long rallies when you had some breakpoints that multiplied and she also had a lot of breakpoints that you erased, what happened in your mind at that time?

LOIS BOISSON: I tried to stay rather cool and focused on what I had to do to relieve the pressure, because I did feel the pressure, and I tried every time to think about what I had to do for the next point. If I missed a point, I tried to think why I had missed it and how I could improve for the next one.

So I did what I had to do, and sometimes when my ball didn't go through, well, I understood what I had to do, and I did it.

Q. Earlier this week, you said you felt you had the right level compared to all the girls you trained with. Who did you train with?

LOIS BOISSON: I can't remember, but they were players who were ranked within the top 50, and I hadn't played with girls at that level before that. So playing with them every day, this made me feel more confident, because I could see that these trainings went well. It helped a lot for me to have this week of practice before.

Q. You will be playing Andreeva for the next round. It's a different game from Pegula. You never played against her. What can you tell us?

LOIS BOISSON: Yes, it's a different type of game. She varies her game much more. She has a very good backhand. She's very solid on both sides.

So I believe I will have to expect a lot of difficult rallies. But it will not change my game plan probably. I might adapt a few details, but I'm not going to change.

Q. It's the first time since 2017 that a French player is in quarterfinals here. So what does it represent for you?

LOIS BOISSON: As I said, it's absolutely great to be in the quarterfinals. My hope is to have as many French people in that level in the coming years. It represents a lot to be in the quarterfinals here, and as I said, I hope to go even further.

Q. Were you surprised to see Pegula play your forehand so much? You beat No. 3. The next one is No. 6. Do you think it will be easier?

LOIS BOISSON: Not at all. I don't think so. I don't think she played my forehand so much. It's also I managed to play inside-out my backhand, and I don't think it will be easy playing the next match.

Q. You had only won one match on the main tour before. Do you think you played the best match of your life, or was this match representative of what you have been playing over the past weeks? Did you feel that playing one of the top 5 is something that you can try to do regularly?

LOIS BOISSON: Well, obviously this is probably my best match, because I never won such a match. But in small tournaments, for example, you can play very good matches, but today was a great performance obviously. My next opponent, I'll see how things go.

I can't plan. I can't forecast, but we'll see what happens, and I hope to continue along those lines and to play on.

Q. Do you realize that your life between this morning and tonight will have changed? First of all, the prize money and also being on TV tonight and on the cover pages of magazines, et cetera.

LOIS BOISSON: Well, during the tournament, I'm trying to stay in my bubble and not to see what's happening around me.

No, things are not going to change for me. They're going to continue in the same way. It's just that my ranking will enable me to play larger, more important tournaments. That's the only thing that's going to change.

Q. One word about your knee. Did it bother you at any time today? Did everything go well? What's happening for your knee today?

LOIS BOISSON: No, everything was great. What happened during the previous match hadn't happened since I resumed tennis, but I was taken care of and everything went well today.