The French Open's $780K Cinderella shows what’s great—and terrible—about tennis
Fairy tales are only available to those who've endured costly grinds, or come with the right heritage.
Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. Today, we talk tennis.
French Open wild-card entry Loïs Boisson just gave us the best story of the tournament—if not all of sports this spring—as she toppled two top-10 opponents en route to the women’s singles semifinals. (American No. 2 Coco Gauff ended the fairytale run Thursday and will face Aryna Sabelanka in a heavyweight final Saturday).
Boisson entered the tournament ranked 361st in the world, with $148,000 in career prize money, no main draw Grand Slam experience, and one ACL tear to her name since turning pro in 2021. The 21-year-old leaves with $788,000 in new earnings and a top-100 ranking after becoming the first wild card in the Open Era to reach the Roland Garros semis.
What made her run all the more magical was that it happened on home soil. The Dijon native seemed to be pushed forward by a vociferous crowd just when she needed it most.
But a French player’s fairy tale coming in Paris is no coincidence. Had this tournament been happening anywhere else, Boisson likely never would’ve gotten the chance to play in the first place.
Each Grand Slam event has the ability to invite eight wild card entrants, and the organizing groups almost always favor local aspirants. Boisson was one of six Frenchwomen given a free pass, joined by one American and one Australian as part of reciprocal agreements with those countries’ Grand Slams.
The system has its logic. Tournaments are more exciting when local athletes participate (as this week’s run so clearly showed) and the wild card slots help develop each host country’s crop.
However there’s also a clear downside. Tennis is already incredibly inequitable, and the wild card system only accentuates that.
Making a Grand Slam run can set a player up for years, giving them the financial security, ranking points, and confidence to sustain future success. American Jessica Pegula has said that top WTA play is actually easier than lower-level events, where players are fighting for their livelihood. But getting to one of the big four events requires a costly grind through smaller tournaments—or the right heritage. The Australian Open at least holds a slot in the men’s and women’s fields for players from the Asia-Pacific region (Thai and Chinese competitors earned wild cards this year).
The U.S. (13) and France (10) have the most players in the ATP Top 100. How much is that because of the leg up provided by their marquee tournaments? While competitors may find an equal playing field each time they step on the court, their paths to those opportunities can be anything but level. Not everyone gets a chance to be Cinderella.
As for Boisson, a campaign is already developing to grant her one of Wimbledon’s wild card spots.
She’s proven she can play with the best women in the world, and she would come to the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club with an army of newly invested fans. But then again, that spot in the field could easily end up being given to a local striver. Does that seem fair?
Lev’s ⚡ Take: It’s not just the Grand Slams where the inequities exist. There are 60 events on the 2025 ATP Tour calendar with ranking points at stake—nine are in the United States and six are in France. Meanwhile, the entire continents of Asia, South America, and Africa host nine, three and one, respectively. Guess what? There are wild cards at all those events too.
And automatic entry into tournaments is just the tip of the iceberg. Players also have to pay for most of their own travel and lodging expenses, which definitely add up a lot quicker for those flying across the globe than Americans who can spend the entire summer playing in the States.
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