WTA 125 Paris: Two Frenchwomen in the semifinals, Boulter holds her ground

This Friday afternoon, the quarterfinals of the WTA 125 Paris tournament took place. Four French players were in action (one in each match), resulting in two wins and as many losses at this stage of the competition.

In the first match of the day, Elsa Jacquemot faced Katie Boulter, the world No. 40 and the tournament's second seed in the French capital. The British player, favored in this match, lived up to her status—though not without difficulty.

After a slump in the second set, Boulter eventually regained her composure to win in three sets. Jacquemot put up a fight, but it wasn’t enough (6-4, 1-6, 6-2).

For a spot in the final, Boulter will face Varvara Gracheva. In the second match of the day, the French No. 1 overcame Kamilla Rakhimova after a tight battle (7-5, 2-6, 6-4) and advances to her first semifinal of the season.

This is actually the first time Gracheva has strung together more than one win in a single tournament in 2025, having already eliminated two American players, Louisa Chirico and Hailey Baptiste, in her first two rounds.

The second French player to reach the semifinals is Chloé Paquet. The world No. 138 took advantage of Amanda Anisimova’s retirement after the second set (3-6, 6-3 ret.) to secure her spot in the final four, where she will face Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

The Belarusian, ranked 99th in the world and continuing her climb up the rankings, ended Julie Belgraver’s run (6-4, 6-2) and now hopes to reach her first final since Budapest last July.