Semi-final preview: Boisson vs Gauff

Yet that is what Coco Gauff must do if she is to find a way past Lois Boisson and the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd. It is not that Gauff does not have her supporters, it is simply that Boisson is France’s new superstar.

Coco, being Coco, was cool, calm and collected about the prospect. “I have played Jasmine [Paolini] in Rome,” she said. “I've played Jasmine and Sara [Errani] in Rome. I've played Caroline [Garcia] and Kristina [Mladenovic] here. So I have some experience playing against a crowd that maybe is not rooting for you. It's something I'm looking forward to.”

That is good to know because, by all accounts, the atmosphere for this semi-final is likely to be electric verging on the hysterical. If Lois can keep her composure and only focus on the point in front of her – and given her performances in the last couple of rounds, there is no reason to believe that she cannot – then the crowd will be loud, it will be partisan and it will be involved in every rally.

Already Boisson has climbed the rankings ladder from No.361 at the start of the tournament to No.65 following her win over Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday. Should she reach the final, she would be up to around the No.35 mark. France dare not think beyond that. Seldom has the gift of a wild card been used to such effect.

Boisson is that rare thing in the modern game: a player who plays a true clay court game, one with both power and craft. She grew up playing on the red dirt and it is a surface she absolutely loves.

Gauff, too, likes the clay but her biggest results have come on hard courts. She has the experience of reaching two Grand Slam finals and winning one of them but will that be enough to beat 15,001 French people packed into that famous court? We will soon find out.