Jodie Burrage vowed that it will be an ‘amazing day’ for tennis in this country when she faces Katie Boulter in Sunday’s Nottingham Open final, the first all-British WTA Tour final since 1977.
There will be strong British interest in the Nottingham men’s final, too, after Andy Murray won his semi-final, thrashing Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-2.
Boulter on Saturday beat Heather Watson, the former British No 1 , 6-4, 7-5 in a hard-fought contest which was delayed by rain for almost two hours midway through the first set.
Burrage, 24, had a gruelling match of her own, eventually beating France’s Alize Cornet 7-5, 7-5.
It will be a career first WTA Tour final for both Boulter and Burrage.
Jodie Burrage (pictured) has set up an all-British final in the Nottingham Open after beating Alize Cornet
Burrage will take on fellow Brit Katie Boulter (pictured) in Sunday’s battle of Britain final in Nottingham
It has been a memorable week for Leicester’s Boulter, 26, who has overtaken the injured Emma Raducanu to become British No 1. After reaching the semi-finals at Surbiton last week, she seems set to return to he world’s top 100 for the first time since she suffered a career-disrupting back injury in 2019.
‘I’ve worked so hard for this and I’m going to just keep plugging away,’ Boulter said yesterday.
‘It’s been a great week for me and I’m just going to keep working hard.
‘It means so much to me, especially here. It was a really tough match and I just tried to put my heart on the line and managed to get through it in the end.’
Burrage (pictured) is hoping to have learned from her mistakes after previously losing to Boulter
Boulter won the first set before Watson, a former mixed doubles champion at Wimbledon, responded in fine fashion, racing into a 4-1 lead in the second. Boulter then produced a stunning comeback.
Burrage, meanwhile, looked as though she would be facing a deciding third set after losing a 4-2 lead in the second, but she roared back in spectacular style.
Burrage said that she had to motivate herself to avoid the match going to a third: ‘I didn’t have that in me,’ she admitted.
The final is ‘going to be an amazing day. Me and Boults played a final against each other earlier this year which she won, so hopefully I can try and change that this time.
‘What an amazing tournament for both of us. I think it will be a really fun day and I’m looking forward to it.’
Meanwhile, Murray says he is relishing the opportunity to come up against another of the sport’s bright young prospects in his quest to earn a Wimbledon seeding.
Murray’s semi-final success over Borges was the 36-year-old’s ninth win in a row and set up a final with 20-year-old French qualifier Arthur Cazaux, the world No 181.
Meanwhile Andy Murray has also made it to the men’s final in the Nottingham Open
Realistically, Murray needs to win on Sunday if he is to stand a chance of avoiding the toughest of early match-ups at Wimbledon.
Murray, ranked 44 in the world, said that coming up against younger players could be the challenge he needs heading into Wimbledon.
‘I’ve played a lot of youngsters recently and it’s always tough,’ he said. ‘When I was that age coming up and playing against more experienced players, you watch them playing on the TV and you know their games a little bit and understand a little bit how to play them.
‘Some of the young guys who have just come out of juniors, it’s my first time seeing them and it’s tricky.’
‘I actually practised with him a few weeks ago,’ Murray said. ‘He’s a top young French player, so it’ll be a good one.’
Against Borges, Murray had a flying start, racing into a 3-0 lead and, bar a bumpy spell at the start of the second set, enjoyed a comfortable afternoon.
Murray had a lightning start in the semi-final and went on to enjoy a comfortable afternoon victory
‘The second set wasn’t so good but the first set was high level, I was really happy with it and didn’t give him too many opportunities. But that can happen.
‘You’re not going to play your best all the time, there are going to be blips during matches and during tournaments and I managed to deal with it and got over the line.
‘Ultimately, you want to try and win the event, so it’s brilliant that I get the opportunity to try and do that.’
Murray needs another good week at Queen’s this week, where his first-round opponent is Australian Alex de Minaur — who beat the Scot in Monte Carlo in April.
