Second seed Coco Gauff walloped French wildcard Lois Boisson 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday to advance to the French Open women's singles final for a second time.
The 21-year-old American overwhelmed the Grand Slam tournament debutant 6-1, 6-2 in 69 minutes to set up a match on Saturday with the top seed Aryna Sabalenka who deposed the defending champion Iga Swiatek in the first semi-final.
Gauff, who lost the 2022 final to Swiatek, swept into a 3-0 lead in 12 minutes against the world number 361 with clean, contained hitting and claimed the set 6-1 after 35 minutes.
During her fourth round tie against the third seed Jessica Pegula, Boisson recovered from the loss of the opener to grind down her opponent with a combination of gritty defence, tricky slices and rasping forehands reminiscent of her idol Rafael Nadal.
Hustle and bustle
In the quarter-final against sixth seed Mirra Andreeva, Boisson's hustle and the bustle from the partisans unhinged her 18-year-old opponent.
In the semi-final, Gauff matched Boisson's athleticism and oozed composure.
"It was my first time playing a French player on centre court," Gauff said in her post match on-court interview with Lucas Pouille.
Gesturing to the crowd, she added: "I knew you guys would be rooting for Lois and wanted her to win but I wanted to win too."
The 2023 US Open champion revealed she had been chanting her own name to herself while the crowd sang out for Boisson who was given an invitation by the French tennis federation to appear in the main draw.
Gauff's tactic worked a treat. She edged her way into a 3-1 lead in the second set as Boisson's forehand - her primary weapon in her suge to the semis - appeared a lost charm.
Boisson had hit only five winners off the wing and racked up 13 errors to help Gauff seize control of the match.
But as Gauff seemed set to soar away, she made her first misstep. She lost her serve to allow Boisson back to 3-2.
The partisans sensed a chance to rally their favourite. Up went the decibels and the cheers. But the girl from Dijon could not cut the mustard.
Gauff rapidly snaffled her serve to lead 4-2 and powered on to a victory befitting the gulf between them in the world rankings.
"For Lois to have played the tournament she has played shows that she is one of the best clay court players in the world," Gauff said.
Boisson will depart from her first Grand Slam tournament with a pay cheque of 660,000 euros as well as the kudos of becoming the first Frenchwoman to reach the last four at the French Open since Marion Bartoli in 2011.
