French wildcard Lois Boisson beat third seed Jessica Pegula to reach the French Open quarter-finals and send shockwaves around Roland Garros.
The 22-year-old, ranked 361 in the world, stunned American Pegula 3-6 6-4 6-4 in front of a delirious Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd.
Boisson’s only real claim to fame prior to this year’s tournament was being the player Britain’s Harriet Dart complained to an umpire about, saying “tell her to wear deodorant”.
But she came up smelling of roses on Monday afternoon after a famous win in the French capital.
It was an emotional victory for Boisson, who was due to make her debut in Paris last year only to suffer a serious knee injury a fortnight before the tournament which kept her out of action for nine months.
She will meet Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, the sixth seed, in the last eight.
“I don’t know what to say, but thank you. Playing on this court in such a great atmosphere, it was incredible,” Boisson, who will add at least £369,000 to her career total of £15,500 in prize money, said on court.
“I knew I could do it but I knew she was super strong but after a while I realised it was a proper contest.”
PA
