Photo credit: Ian MacNicol/Getty
French fans were chanting her name in celebratory chorus.
Lois Boisson responded with seismic upset and primal scream.
French wild card Boisson scored the biggest upset of this Roland Garros draw shocking third-seeded Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, to reach her maiden Roland Garros quarterfinal and send French fans into frenzy.
On match point, Boisson ran around her backhand, fired a final topspin forehand down the line that eluded her opponent and thrust her arms toward the sky as the Chatrier Crowd erupted in delirious screams.
World No. 361 Boisson broke down in tears of joy after capturing her third three-set win of the tournament to continue this Parisian thrill ride.
Playing her maiden Grand Slam, the last French singles player still standing made a historic charge.
Boisson is the lowest-ranked woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2017 US Open when No. 418 Kaia Kanepi did it. Boisson is the first Frenchwoman to reach the French Open quarterfinals since doubles partners Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic each did it back in 2017.
Mixing a hellacious heavy topspin forehand with dipping slice backhands, Boisson became the first French women's wild card to reach the Roland Garros last eight since 2000 singles and doubles champion Mary Pierce did it in 2002.
All this from a woman who was rehabbing a torn ACL last season and arrived in Paris as a 500 to 1 longshot to win Roland Garros before the tournament began.
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The match began before a near-empty Court Philippe Chatrier with an almost dead atmosphere.
By the time Boisson was done wrapping up this stunner, the place was packed and the house was rocking with delight.
"Playing on this court with such an atmosphere was incredible," a teaful Boisson told Alizé Cornet in her on-court interview. "I was confident before the match, I knew I could do it even if it was super strong.
"I gave everything I had and happened, it's amazing."
"Can you tell her to wear some deodorant because the smell is really bad," Dart asked the chair umpire during a changeover.
After her defeat, Dart issued an apology.
"It was a comment made in the heat of the moment and I truly regret it," Dart said on social media. "It's not the way I want to behave and I take full responsibility.
"I have a lot of respect for Lois and the way she competed today. I'll learn from this and move on."
Can you smell karma?
Harriet Dart is mired in a six-match losing streak.
Meanwhile Boisson, who won a clay-court Challenger title on clay before the French Open started, has won nine matches in a row, including knocking out a pair of seeds out of Paris: No. 24 seeded Elise Mertens in her opener and No. 3-seeded Pegula today.
These days, Boisson is enjoying the sweet smell of success.