On the first day of the grass-court season, Katie Boulter made the decision to post on social media in recognition of becoming the British No 1 for the first time in her career. It was a post, she admitted, that took much deliberation – she was still ranked 126th in the world, after all, still far beneath where she believes her ability should take her. Boulter pledged to continue working towards her main goals, however long it took.
It has not taken long for her to begin achieving them. Six days later, she closed off a historic week for British tennis in Nottingham by winning her first career WTA title as a wildcard and without dropping a set, overwhelming Jodie Burrage 6-3, 6-3.
That victory was achieved in the first WTA final between two British players in 46 years, since the glory days of Sue Barker and Virginia Wade, who faced each other in a 1977 final in San Francisco.
“I dreamed of this moment – to win this tournament – as a little girl when I was four years old,” said Boulter, who is from Leicester, during her on-court interview. “Having come here as a fan and now as a player and somehow finding a way to win it means more than everything to me.”
Both Boulter, 26, and the 24-year-old Burrage had begun the tournament having never reached a WTA semi-final and the final presented the biggest opportunity of their careers so far. Boulter rose to the occasion brilliantly, playing spectacularly and neutralising her opponent from the beginning.
Behind her excellent serve, Boulter struck the ball freely off both wings, dominating the baseline as she constantly looked to move forward and impose herself. She finished with 21 winners and only 15 unforced errors, a clean, quality performance worthy of the occasion.
She has long been known as a player with big weapons who thrives on bigger stages and her last four difficult years on the tour have been testament to both the positive and negative aspects of those qualities. Shortly after breaking into the top 100 in 2019, Boulter sustained a stress fracture in her back that forced her out for seven months.
Since returning in the final weeks of 2019, she has shown continuous flashes of her ability when she has faced top players, including by defeating Karolina Pliskova, to reach the third round at Wimbledon last year. Grinding through the lower level ITF events week after week around the world, however, has proved much more difficult both due to her form and a long list of physical issues.
A week after becoming British No 1, Boulter will return to the top 100 for the first time since 2019, at a career-high ranking of 77, finally bettering her previous high of 82. Considering the dire luck she suffered so soon after initially breaking the top 100, she will happily take her good fortune in Nottingham.
While Burrage fought past three consecutive top 100 players, including the No 21, Magda Linette, the third seed, to reach the final, the highest ranked opponent Boulter faced was her compatriot Harriet Dart, ranked No 143 in the world. Boulter is only the second player in the past 20 years to win a WTA title without defeating a top 130 player.
The tournament had begun with British tennis receiving some legitimate criticisms. No British women were in the French Open main draw and Boulter’s status as British No 1 had much to do with Emma Raducanu continuing to lose points in her extended absence. Not since Anne Keothavong in May 2008 has the British No 1 resided outside the top 100.
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This week, however, the players have given a strong account of their ability and talent, and none more than Boulter, who is finally back among the elite, exactly where she wants to be.
Raducanu, a former British No 1, has spoken openly about her struggles since winning the US Open in 2021. The 20-year-old, who will not compete in the British grass-court season after undergoing surgeries on both hands and her left ankle, admitted that she sometimes wishes she had never won the US Open.
“Since then I’ve had a lot of setbacks, one after the other. I am resilient, my tolerance is high, but it’s not easy. And sometimes I think to myself: ‘I wish I’d never won the US Open, I wish that didn’t happen.’
Raducanu also said she has felt burnt out after her US Open victory and she is now much more aware of those who may want to exploit her. “When I won I was extremely naive,” she said. “What I have realised in the past two years, the tour and everything that comes with it, it’s not a very nice, trusting and safe space.
“You have to be on guard because there are a lot of sharks out there. I think people in the industry, especially with me because I was 19, now 20, they see me as a piggy bank. It has been difficult to navigate. I have been burnt a few times. I have learned, keep your circle as small as possible.”