French tennis player Lois Boisson has revealed that a misdiagnosis and subsequent management errors prolonged her recovery from an injury, keeping her off the tour for nearly seven months. The 22-year-old, who reached the semifinals at last year's Roland Garros, is returning at the Madrid Open with a new coach. She faces American Peyton Stearns in the first round.
Lois Boisson's troubles began on September 28, 2025, in Beijing, where she retired from her match against Emma Navarro after losing the first set 6-2 and taking a medical timeout. What followed was a series of withdrawals from major events, including the Australian Open, Middle Eastern tournaments, Indian Wells, and the Miami Open. Initially slated to return at the Rouen WTA 250 event, Boisson instead makes her comeback at the Madrid Open. Speaking to L’Equipe ahead of her first-round match, she described the issue bluntly: “It was clearly a misdiagnosis, an oversight in the diagnosis, and then a management error, what to do, how to do it. As a result, I think it took me a lot longer than it could have taken.” Boisson explained that doctors identified one problem but missed an opposing condition, leading to improper treatment that hindered healing. “Basically, I was diagnosed with a certain thing that was really there for the moment. But there was something else. The two are completely opposites. You can’t treat, you can’t put what they put in my arm for the second thing, it prevents healing,” she said. These errors extended her absence, which she called “complicated things to manage.” After her breakthrough 2025 season—reaching the Roland Garros semifinals from world No. 361 and winning her first clay title in Hamburg—Boisson has assembled a new support team. Dutch coach Hendrik Vleeshouwers, formerly with Amanda Anisimova, began working with her in Madrid. She has been practicing at the Caja Mágica ahead of her match against Stearns.