Having come close in Surbiton the week before, Britain’s new number one Katie Boulter beat a quartet of compatriots – including Jodie Burrage in Sunday’s final – clinching a maiden WTA Tour-level title at her home tournament in Nottingham. As she conceded afterwards, a career-high attainment this week cannot be understated but consistency is key, starting today in Birmingham.
Boulter identifying a need to reset after victory says plenty
- I will be sleeping with my trophy tonight, it’s nice to have some reward that I can look back on. Next week will be about resetting, I’ll be ready for Birmingham – that’s my job,” she said after 6-3, 6-3 win over Jodie Burrage
- Boulter rose to a new career-high world no. 77 immediately after Sunday’s success, but is already down to #87 in the live WTA rankings as she looks to defend last season’s quarter-final points from Birmingham this week
- She’ll play China’s Lin Zhu in R1, with Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette [3] awaiting the winner in round two after a three-set comeback win (3-6, 7-5, 6-4) win over Jasmine Paolini on Monday afternoon
Dan Evans’ comments at the end of May, on how British tennis has been papering over the cracks since Emma Raducanu’s US Open triumph, still rings true.
It was predictably blown out of proportion by national media at a time where no British women qualified for the main draw of a Major singles tournament since 2009 and only three – including him – managed that on the men’s side.
Evans’ comments were understandable, given the country’s unfufilled potential:
“They’ve been lucky they had a grand slam champion and she’s a very good tennis player but the rankings don’t lie, do they? Men’s, not many of us playing qualies, not many main draw. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but there’s way further to go than just the top players – it’s from the bottom up.
I think the grass last year really helped paper over some cracks as well. There were some good results but if you look at the players who did pretty good on the grass last year, who were wildcards etc, rankings don’t lie. After the grass, there will be a bit of soul searching I imagine, after their holidays obviously.”
Yet now, you’re seeing phrases like this result being a strong response to criticism that came after the aforementioned underachievement in Paris.
Britain as a sporting nation are too quick to pat themselves on the back for achieving smaller accomplishments than other countries, indirectly leading to future problems.
Failing to temper expectations, denying players an opportunity to quietly build themselves up for the heights many thrust upon them too quickly.
Katie Boulter turns 27 in six weeks today and this is the first time she’s been the country’s top-ranked tennis player, after considerable success as a junior.
She’s suffered some painful defeats already this season, against the likes of Peyton Stearns (Austin), Lesia Tsurenko (Indian Wells qualifying), Ashlyn Krueger (French Open qualifiers) which reinforce the notion her level isn’t yet where it needs to be.
Burrage and Katie Swan (both 24) have shown similar flashes but again managing consistency on a weekly basis has been a common denominator for all three.
As it has, with the aforementioned Raducanu too. The former world no. 10 is now sidelined through multiple injuries and unlikely to play again this season, with reduced attention and spotlight potentially doing her the world of good.
“I’m at a career high but not content, have a long way to go. My aim is not to be top 100, it’s to be 50, 40, 30 and ever since I broke through the first time I believed I had the game to become that player, that will always be my main focus. Hopefully I can find some consistency and make this week in, week out.”
- Boulter on refusing to rest on her laurels after a career-best achievement
Boulter beat Burrage in a Canberra 60k six months back to win her seventh title at the ITF level (7-9 in finals), and avoided French Open semi-finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia in R2 after the Brazilian’s surprise 6-4, 6-3 defeat by Ukraine’s Daria Snigur.
Much like an in-form Andy Murray will experience at Queen’s this week, the level of competition is fiercer in Birmingham: 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova and Linda Fruhvirtova are among those in her side of the draw.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via tennis365.com unless hyperlinked otherwise
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