She started slowly, leaked 13 total double-faults and could’ve easily faltered after losing set one to 21-year-old Ukrainian talent Marta Kostyuk but Britain’s Katie Boulter recovered from a set down for the second time this week to clinch a maiden WTA 500 title, cracking into the world’s top 30 for the first time too.
Forehand firing for bullish Boulter
Boulter bt. Kostyuk [6] 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
- Consistency breeds success: Katie Boulter, Britain’s top-ranked female tennis player, now rises to a new career-high world no. 27 with this latest triumph, having been steadily climbing the rankings over the past year
- Boulter’s post-match speech after a career-best trophy: “It’s been honestly a privilege to be here in San Diego, didn’t think I’d be here with a trophy, but thanks to everyone for making me feel at home. Your time is coming Marta, you’re still very young but have been here a while battling along. I always get emotional talking about my team – some have flown over, others driven, some here the whole time – massive thanks, you mean the world to me.”
- “It’s been a difficult few nights for Ukraine. I want them to see me win as much as possible, this is for them,” Kostyuk dedicates runners-up trophy to her family back home in Kyiv, where the war with Russia continues
- Both players are set for a quick turnaround as they’ve entered into the Indian Wells (WTA 1000) tournament, where qualifying for the main draw is already underway. First-round matches expected to begin in midweek
KATIE Boulter is a first-time WTA 500 champion after her fearsome forehand groundstrokes helped her survive a weary start and tense middle to outlast Australian Open quarterfinalist Marta Kostyuk with aplomb overnight in San Diego.
The 27-year-old, who beat four top-40 players including Beatriz Haddad Maia and Donna Vekic en route to San Diego’s showpiece event, put the wheels in motion as far as her comeback was concerned midway through an exhausting first set.
After a few early lead changes, Kostyuk had the upper hand at 5-2 and could’ve finished the frame much earlier than she did. Boulter saved six set points in two games behind her serve, with a mixture of clutch baseline hitting and timely cheap points going her way whenever pressure felt heightened for Kostyuk to finish the job.
Eventually she did so at the seventh attempt after a 64-minute set, though Boulter’s team would’ve been optimistically enthused by her resurgence in the latter stages of a set she had no right to still be playing by that stage.
She served six doubles and won just 57% of points behind her first serve, being made to play more but clearly finding some rhythm – powered by her forehand – as she matched Kostyuk’s forward forays with better movement near the net herself.
Slices and floating balls were an effective tactic for Kostyuk on defence to keep Boulter aggressive, almost having to beat her three or four times during some moments, but that only served to help build confidence in a player who won her first title last summer and has gradually been progressing for some time now.
This final was erratic in stages and excellent in others from both, though Kostyuk grew frustrated and felt sorry for herself as some unlucky moments on serve handed Boulter the initiative in set two, one she wouldn’t relinquish this time around.
Double-faults down the other end (8, but seven in the first two sets) were spilling for the 21-year-old, who missed a lot more frequently and earlier in the rallies as those cheap points proved much harder to come by, the longer this match unfolded.
Boulter’s belief had been seriously boosted by this stage, evidenced by a sequence where she pulled the youngster from side-to-side at the back of the court before producing a deft drop shot winner at the net with the whole court to aim at.
It was also evidenced by the second set stats: 88% first serves won and one point less played on serve (22 to 23), while Kostyuk’s percentages were below 50% in both categories (43% first, 33% second) – the tennis was flying by at a pace now.
Into a decider they went and Kostyuk held firm to start, though it proved a false dawn as the body language in her player box, almost unable to watch, told the story about how this 50-50 encounter had unravelled quickly.
Some tense and grinding baseline exchanges went Boulter’s way and Kostyuk couldn’t keep balls in court long enough, overcooking forehands and netting backhands with the Brit pressing forward as she sensed blood.
A crunching forehand crosscourt winner and forehand approach on subsequent points felt like the final nail in the coffin, before a backhand up-the-line winner gave her a comfy three-game cushion to serve it out. That she did, and this proved a worthy trip for friends and family who travelled to watch her here.
Picture source: Getty Images, stats via WTA
Mo and Sports 