Wildcard and world No 361 Lois Boisson is one step away from the French Open final after beating teen star Mirra Andreeva in straight sets on Wednesday.
Backed by a partisan home crowd at Roland Garros, Dijon-born Boission produced another sensational performance following her fourth-round win over third seed Jessica Pegula.
This time it was sixth seed Andreeva who was to become the Frenchwoman's latest big-name victim as Boisson sealed a thrilling 7-6, 6-3 victory to set up a semi-final clash with world No 2 Coco Gauff on Thursday.
It was a disastrous day for teenager Andreeva who repeatedly showed her frustration with the crowd, as excited fans chanted “Lois, Lois” between points, waved Tricolor flags, shouted during play, and even applauded the Russian's errors.
The 18-year-old suffered a complete meltdown in the second set as she argued with the umpire, received a code violation for whacking a ball into the stands, burst into tears and forced her mother Raisa to leave her player's box.
The winning point was met with ferocious noise from her boisterous supporters in the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd after a win and fairy-tale run that will lift Boisson comfortably inside the top 100.
“It’s incredible. Thank you for supporting me like this – I have no words,” Boisson told a delirious crowd.
“I ran a bit too much because I was so tense early on,” she admitted. “But I fought hard in that first set, which was so intense. At the start of the second, I felt a little empty, but I hung in there and finished the job.”
It has been an incredible performance from the 22-year-old who is making her first Grand Slam appearance after last season's ACL injury.
She is the first wildcard in the modern era to reach the French Open semi-finals and is the first player ranked outside the top 300 to defeat multiple top-10 opponents since Serena Williams in Chicago 1997.
Boisson also became the third woman to reach the semi-finals at her debut Grand Slam tournament after Monica Seles (1989) and Jennifer Capriati (1990) both achieved it at the French Open.
Earlier, Gauff had come out on top in a scruffy all-American battle against Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
A match that featured a combined 101 unforced errors and 14 breaks of serve ended 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 in favour of the 22-year-old.
“Maddie was playing well, she's hitting the ball so fast and so low so I was just trying to fight for each point,” said Gauff, the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2022 when she was crushed 6-1, 6-3 by Iga Swiatek.
“I knew I had to be able to run today and as soon as the ball came short, punish her for it.
“It means a lot, getting through this tough match. I'm very happy to get through and be in the semi-finals again. I have a lot more work to do but I'm going to savour this one today. I'll be ready for tomorrow's match.”
Despite the numerous double-faults and missed strokes, Gauff managed to pull her game together enough to win eight of the last nine games. “I have had that in me from a young age, she said.
“When times become more difficult, knowing that I can dig deep in those tough moments.
“My philosophy is if I can just leave it all out there, then the loss will hurt a lot less than regrets of maybe not giving it your all.”
Keys, the newest member of the Grand Slam winners' club following her Melbourne triumph in January, bowed out with her 60th and final unforced error on match-point of a forgettable clash.
“I don't really have regrets. I don't think I played quite the level that I wish that I could have, but I don't think that I regret not going for things or making poor decisions,” Keys told reporters.
“I just think that what I wanted to do and the level I produced just weren't on the same page today.
“The court being a little bit slower coupled with the fact that she covers the court so well, it just put a little bit of pressure on me to go a little bit more for my shots and maybe press a little bit too much too soon.”
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
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Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Chelsea 2 Burnley 3
Chelsea Morata (69'), Luiz (88')
Burnley Vokes (24', 43'), Ward (39')
Red cards Cahill, Fabregas (Chelsea)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
