The Prague Post - Boisson joins select group of surprise Grand Slam semi-finalists

Here, AFP Sport looks at women's players who overcame the odds to reach the last four and challenge for a Grand Slam title:

Elina Svitolina, mother of comebacks

Elina Svitolina returned in March 2023 after maternity leave following the birth of her daughter. The Ukrainian was not ranked high enough to make the Wimbledon main draw and was given a wildcard.

She reached the semi-finals after eliminating world number one Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals. Czech Marketa Vondrousova, the eventual champion, ended her run in straight sets.

Before Svitolina, Germany's Sabine Lisicki (2011 Wimbledon), Belgium's Justine Henin (2010 Australian Open), Kim Clijsters (2009 US Open), and China's Zheng Jie (2008 Wimbledon) also reached Grand Slam semi-finals as wildcards.

Monica Seles, a precocious talent

Arriving at Roland Garros in 1989 to compete in her first Grand Slam aged 15, Seles reached the semi-finals, where she lost in three sets to world number one Steffi Graf.

The young Yugoslav -- who became a US citizen in 1994 -- won in Paris the following year, gaining revenge on the German, defeating American Jennifer Capriati en route.

Like Seles in 1989 and Boisson this year, Capriati also reached the semi-finals in her first major at Roland Garros in 1990. They are the only three players to have achieved such a feat in a Grand Slam tournament since 1980.

Emma Raducanu, qualifier to champion

At the 2021 US Open, 18-year-old Briton Emma Raducanu became the first player in history to win a Grand Slam as a qualifier. Ranked 150th in the world on her arrival in New York, Raducanu won the title against another surprise package, Canadian Leylah Fernandez -- then ranked 73rd -- without dropping a single set in 10 matches.

In the past decade, two other players have come through the qualifying rounds to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam -- Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska at the 2024 Australian Open and Argentina's Nadia Podoroska at the 2020 French Open.

Martina Trevisan, last surprise Paris semi-finalist

In 2022, Italian Martina Trevisan arrived at Roland Garros brimming with confidence. A week before the tournament, the world number 59 won her first and only title at the WTA 250 event in Rabat.

Thanks to the early eliminations of Tunisian Ons Jabeur, then world number six, and 12th-ranked Raducanu, the 28-year-old from Tuscany enjoyed a draw clear of top seeds until the quarter-finals, where she eliminated world number 18 Fernandez. The next step was too steep with American Coco Gauff sweeping her aside 6-3, 6-1.

Mary Pierce, youngest French woman

In what was already her fifth appearance at Roland Garros, Pierce reached the semi-finals on the Parisian red clay at the age of 19 in 1994. After defeating world number one Graf, Pierce reached the final, where she lost to Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Amelie Mauresmo was also 19 when she reached the semi-finals of the 1999 Australian Open -- she lost in the final to Martina Hingis -- and Brigitte Simon was 21 when she reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 1978. At 22, Boisson is the fourth-youngest Frenchwoman to book her ticket to the semi-finals of a Slam event.

G.Turek--TPP