French Open semi-finalist Lois Boisson entered the world's top 50 for the first time on Monday after winning the biggest title of her fledgling career at the Hamburg Open.
The 22-year-old Frenchwoman beat the defending champion Anna Bondar from Hungary 7-5, 6-3 to brandish the trophy after five matches on the clay courts at the Am Rothenbaum stadium.
"It’s really tough to win a tournament, so when we did it, I’m really happy with that," Boisson said. "Just happy, and I hope it will continue like this."
In the WTA world rankings published on Monday, Boisson will sit at 44th on the ladder. Just before the French Open in Paris in May, she languished at 361.
Her exploits at the French Open in which she beat two players in the top 10, gave her the ranking points to propel her 300 places up the listings and the status as France's top female player.
She failed to replicate the scintillating form from Paris on grass where she lost in the first round of the qualifying tournament for Wimbledon.
But in Hamburg, she was back on her favourite surface.
In Sunday's final, Boisson lost the first four games but Bondar failed to exploit her advantage. She served for the set at 5-2 up but fluffed her attempt to take the opener.
The 28-year-old also botched her second chance when serving at 5-4.
And then she squandered three opportunities to win Boisson's service game when they were at 5-5.
Boisson completed the turnaround to claim the set 7-5 and showed similar resolve in the second set to reel off five consecutive games to win it 6-3.
Boisson, who received an invitation from the French Open organisers for the main draw following an injury- blighted year, will, with her newly elevated status, gain direct entry into the draws for the leading hard court tournaments in the United States as well as the US Open which starts on 24 August.
