PARIS (Reuters) -French Open semi-finalist Lois Boisson will earn at least 690,000 euros ($789,636.00) from her fairytale run at Roland Garros which means the local favourite will no longer have to rely on crowdfunding in a bid to boost her finances.
The French wild card came into the tournament having earned about 20,000 euros this year but even if she loses to American Coco Gauff in the semi-finals on Thursday, the world number 361 can expect endorsements and sponsorships to come flooding in.
If Boisson beats the second-seeded American and reaches the final she will receive a cheque for 1,275,000 euros, while if the 22-year-old wins the title she will pocket 2,550,000 euros.
Boisson started a crowdfunding campaign a year ago, asking for help to "get back to the highest level and make it to the four Grand Slams this year" after suffering a serious knee injury just before Roland Garros, where she got a wild card.
Boisson received another invitation from the French tennis federation to play at the tournament again this year and has not disappointed, beating world number three Jessica Pegula and Russian prodigy Mirra Andreeva in the two previous rounds.
Boisson only got 100 euros in crowdfunding in a year before that jumped above 1,000 just before the semi-finals but the talented youngster won't need to seek donations now.
($1 = 0.8738 euros)
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)
