by Katie Boulter has broken into the world’s top 30 after claiming the biggest win by a British woman since Emma Raducanu won the US Open.
In a stunning week in San Diego, Boulter defeated five consecutive top-40 opponents to lift the title and confirm her position as one of the most in-form players on the WTA Tour this season.
Boulter starts the new week as the world No. 27 – the highest ranked Briton of either gender. Few predicted this when she entered last summer’s grass court season at No. 125, but her victory in the opening tournament in Nottingham last June put her on a steep upward trajectory.
Boulter was watched from the stands by her Australian boyfriend, Alex de Minaur, who had taken a 6am flight across from Acapulco after winning the ATP title on Saturday.
The combination sparked a debate about the last time a tennis power couple won their respective titles on both main tours in the same weekend. Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors won both Wimbledon singles titles in 1974, when they were about to tie, and more recently Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijsters came good in Indian Wells in 2003.
Boulter’s final against Marta Kostyuk started late on Sunday night, UK time, and it looked like it was going against her when Kostyuk fired a barrage of winners to claim the first set. Both women struggled on the second serve, making 10 double faults between them by now, but it was Boulter who looked the worst.
From that moment, however, Boulter found a more reliable pattern from the baseline as she relied heavily on her thunderous forehand. This shot has always been the key to her game, and she’s been pushing it all week in San Diego.
“This week has been really, really special for a lot of different reasons,” Boulter said in his acceptance speech after a 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 win. “This one is amazing, I’ve worked really hard for it, I’ve played incredible tennis all week.
“Today was a complete battle, with me too, because I was a bit nervous. But I managed to get over the line, and I’m very proud of it.
“A lot of it was just staying as tough as I could mentally, and I managed to keep my cool and I relaxed a lot. I think that helped me a lot, and then I started to relax and play through shots a little more.”
It probably helped that Boulter had already won that title in Nottingham, although the two events were poles apart in qualification.
There, she was ranked above all five of her opponents, with fellow Brit Jodie Burrage the pick of the bunch at No 131. In San Diego, by contrast, she started as the underdog on paper in every match, but came through against Lesia. Tsurenko (36), Beatriz Haddad Maia (13), Donna Vekic (28), Emma Navarro (26) and Kostyuk (34).
Boulter also thanked De Minaur in his victory speech, adding: “He finished last night at midnight and I want to shame him. He took a taxi at 4.15 this morning and a six o’clock flight to be here today, so I appreciate it.”
A few minutes earlier, Kostyuk had spoken fondly of her family, who live in the Ukrainian city of Kyiv. “I don’t want to make him sad,” she said. “I want to thank my family back home, it’s been a difficult few nights for Ukraine, I don’t know what will happen tomorrow but there is no one who has sacrificed more throughout my career than them. “
Both women are on track to seed at the French Open in May, which would be a first for either. Now 21, Kostyuk was much more noise than Boulter as a junior, having won the girls’ event at the Australian Open at the precociously young age of 14.
Boulter is 27 and has already been treading the boards for ten years. Her sudden blossoming is reminiscent of Johanna Konta’s unexpected breakthrough at the age of 24. Her game has evolved greatly under the tutelage of Biljana Veselinovic of the Lawn Tennis Association (in fact, both competitors have female coaches, as Kostyuk works with Polish guru Sandra Zaniewska). , and a winter spent training with Andy Murray’s former fitness coach, Matt Little, has also improved her movement.
If Boulter was a late bloomer, it might be one explanation for the chronic fatigue syndrome that confined her to her own bed for several months in 2015 and restricted her training schedule for years afterward. She also suffered a serious spinal stress fracture while representing Great Britain in a team event in 2019. The last 18 months or so marks the first time she has been able to play consistently without physical niggles, and has the hit results.
Boulter’s performance in San Diego was neatly summed up by 1980s legend Pam Shriver, who at the tournament coached Boulter’s quarterfinal opponent Donna Vekic.
“Katie is strong on both sides, and the forehand stood up well under pressure,” Shriver told Telegraph Sport. “She remained very positive on the court, including plenty of self-talk without many mantras.
“I thought she played with confidence, pushing the second serve back and closing out her games well – like when Donna brought her back from 5-1 to 5-3 but still won the next game. Her court coverage is a lot better than it used to be, which gives her the ability to get out of trouble a lot more often.”
Shriver also cited Boulter’s two-year relationship with De Minaur as having a beneficial effect, adding: “Alex is playing top-ten tennis this season, so this is not a big deal in their house or in their hotel room.”
