Emma Navarro and Lois Boisson played an exhilarating match in the first round of the US Open. The first two sets were settled in tiebreakers, and the decider wasn’t one-sided either. But much to Boisson’s frustration, Navarro eventually prevailed 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. Following this, a comical scene unfolded on the court after the customary handshake.
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As Navarro was waving towards the crowd, Boisson was seen smashing her spare racket to pieces in the background after the loss. She was clearly very frustrated with the result and couldn’t keep her emotions in check. She did take Navarro to the absolute limit, but it all counted for nothing else except a first-round exit.
Both players lost their serves on multiple occasions throughout the match. The first set saw none of them give an inch to the other, and there was nothing to separate them at 6-6. The tiebreaker was also pretty close, but Navarro, who was playing in front of her home crowd, eventually clinched it 8-6 to take a valuable lead in the match.
The second set followed a similar pattern, as there was nothing to separate the two once again. But Boisson breezed past Navarro in the tiebreaker. The American’s resilience faded as she lost the breaker 7-1, and the match was leveled.
The decider was the only one of the three sets that wasn’t decided through a breaker. Navarro got the all-important break and then served out the set to clinch a well-deserved victory. The match could very well have gone in Boisson’s favor, but the level of her game dropped in the final set.
This was a much-needed result for Navarro as she arrived at the US Open after winning just two matches in the American swing. She defeated Sofia Kenin in the first round of the Citi Open, but wasn’t able to go any further and suffered a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the next match. What followed was a first-round defeat to Alina Korneeva at the National Bank Open.
The Cincinnati Masters didn’t prove to be much better for Navarro. She made a bright start by defeating Anhelina Kalinina 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, but then faced an uphill task of defeating Jessica Pegula in the second round. The latter racked up a comfortable 7-5, 6-2 victory to bring Navarro’s campaign to an end. But the hard-fought victory over Boisson will provide her with some much-needed confidence as she prepares to tackle other opponents in the tournaments.
On the other hand, things just got worse for Boisson. The 2026 season has simply not gone her way, as she has a dismal win-loss record of 4-11. She has dropped to No. 237 in the rankings, just a year after her Cinderella run to the semifinals of the 2025 French Open. But physical issues have been a big reason behind her fall-off.
Lois Boisson hasn’t played much in 2026 because of injury problems
Boisson’s 2026 season didn’t begin until the Madrid Open. Her 2025 season came to an abrupt end due to a left quadriceps injury, which she picked up at the China Open. From here, the Frenchwoman wasn’t able to regain match fitness for almost the next seven months.
Turns out Boisson was also dealing with a lingering injury in her right forearm. On top of this, she suffered an injury while training during the offseason. This led to her withdrawal from the United Cup.
Boisson didn’t want to rush her recovery and thus decided to pull out of the Australian Open. This may very well have been the right decision, as she wasn’t able to make her return to the WTA Tour until April. Boisson later revealed that it was a medical misdiagnosis that played a critical role in keeping her out of action for so many months.
It is safe to say that the 23-year-old hasn’t looked the same this year. Her best result of the season so far came recently at the Cincinnati Masters, where she managed to defeat two players and reached the Round of 32. But Boisson wasn’t able to go any further in the competition as Diane Parry defeated her 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
While Boisson may have regained full fitness, she will have to slog hard if she wants to return to her previous best. With her US swing coming to an early end, her main goal now will be to salvage the season by racking up positive results in the tournaments that will follow.