Coco Gauff Has Special Advice for Lois Boisson After Beating Her in French Open semifinal

Coco Gauff will be meeting Aryna Sabalenka for the second time this season following the Madrid Open final.

Coco Gauff Has Special Advice for Lois Boisson After Beating Her in French Open semifinal

Coco Gauff, Lois Boisson (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

Coco Gauff has now become a two-time French Open finalist. On Thursday (June 5), Gauff moved past home favorite Lois Boisson 6-1, 6-2 to schedule a final clash with World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

The Frenchwoman scripted history after knocking out two-time WTA 1000 champion Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals. She became the youngest French player to progress to the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament since Amelie Mauresmo (1999 Wimbledon).

She had also become the third player to progress to the last four in her first main draw appearance in a Grand Slam since 1980. Now that her run ended, Gauff analyzed her matches and gave her advice.

Her position is particularly difficult because I believe that in France, there haven’t been many players who have achieved these results in recent years, so I think the whole country will be watching her closely. My biggest advice is for her to stay true to herself and keep her people around, to listen to what they expect from her, not what the media or external analysts expect.

Coco Gauff said at the press conference

Gauff now took a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head matchup with the 22-year-old. Before losing to Gauff, Boisson, knocked out three seeded players, including two top 10 players- World No.6 Andreeva and last year’s US Open finalist Jessica Pegula (World No.3) in the quarterfinals.

Coco Gauff reveals the difference between her first and second French Open finals

Coco Gauff reached her first French Open final back in 2022 but she was no match for Iga Swiatek, who clinched the win without breaking a sweat. It was her first final in a Grand Slam and Gauff, in the press conference after her win over Lois Boisson, blamed nerves for her performance against the Pole.

In my first final here, I was very nervous and I gave up before the match even began. Now I have much more confidence from having played a Grand Slam final before and having done well. On Saturday, I will give my best and try to be as calm and relaxed as possible. Whatever is meant to happen will happen, knowing that I will give my all.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

Gauff would have scheduled a final clash with the four-time Roland Garros champion had Swiatek defeated Aryna Sabalenka. After starting slugglishly, Swiatek slowly gained momentum but her level dropped drastically and Sabalenka clinched a final set bagel to book her spot in the French Open final for the first time.

Sabalenka has now become the first woman to progress to three Grand Slam singles finals on the trot (2024 US Open, 2025 Australian Open, and this year’s French Open) after Serena Williams who progressed to the finals of the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon, back in 2016. Gauff and Sabalenka are tied at 5-5 in the head-to-head record and they have also one match each on clay against each other.

The 21-year-old beat the Belarusian in the third round of the 2021 Italian Open. Sabalenka this year won her third Madrid Open title by defeating the American.

Before this season, the three-time Grand Slam singles champion was a semifinalist in Paris, reaching the last four in 2023, while last year, she lost to Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals. Gauff was defeated by Swiatek in the semifinal last year.

Except for the Stuttgart Open, Gauff has advanced to the finals of all the clay-court events she played. Sabalenka was defeated in the Italian Open quarterfinals by Qinwen Zheng but has reached the finals in Stuttgart, Madrid, and now in Paris. Gauff is chasing her first title since winning the 2024 WTA Finals, while Sablenka has three titles under her belt this season.

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