Katie Boulter earns best career scalp to date as she comes from a set down – having narrowly avoided a bagel – to defeat last year’s Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova in round two of the International Eastbourne
- Katie Boulter secured a superb 1-6 6-4 6-4 win over world No 7 Karolina Pliskova
- The British No 4 lost the opening set after trailing 5-0 inside the first half an hour
- But she took five of her 19 break-point opportunities in the second and third sets
- Ryan Peniston also triumphed, beating French Open quarter-finalist Holger Rune
British No 4 Katie Boulter roared back from almost suffering a first-set bagel to dump out last year’s Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova in the second round of the Rothesay International Eastbourne.
The 25-year-old trailed 5-0 inside half an hour to the world No 7 but after she got on the board kept with the Czech before she got the Centre Court crowd off their feet on a number of occasions during a dramatic second and third set.
Boulter was able to take five of her 19 break-point opportunities to secure a 1-6 6-4 6-4 win and continue her great form after she claimed a previous career-best scalp over Alison Riske in Birmingham last week.
Katie Boulter secured a stunning 1-6 6-4 6-4 victory over Karolina Pliskova at Eastbourne
A gutsy victory over Tereza Martincova on Sunday meant the home favourite walked out for her ninth match on grass this summer and while she faced a formidable opponent, Pliskova had admitted to not feeling 100 per cent back to her best ahead of the match.
The concerns of the two-time grand-slam finalist seemed unfounded after she broke Boulter twice early on but the Brit continued to create break points and earned warm applause after avoiding a whitewash.
It boosted Boulter who continued to make chances on Pliskova’s serve and eventually started to take them in the second to level up the scores.
Four consecutive double-faults by the former world No 1 aided Boulter’s cause in the decider but she was immediately broken back to leave the set finely poised.
The British No 4 roared back after losing the opening set, having trailed 5-0 inside half an hour
Having let a 4-2 lead slip, Boulter remained focused and a fine return gave her the chance to serve out the victory. A first match point was saved but after a superb cross-court winner set up a second, this one was not wasted to give Boulter the best result of her career.
‘That gave me goosebumps so thank you so much,’ Boulter said on-court when asked about the atmosphere at Devonshire Park.
‘I am super proud of myself. I went out, didn’t feel great and worked so hard to get out there. I battled and fought and to beat a player like that means so much.’
Pliskova is the world No 7 and reached the Wimbledon final against Ashleigh Barty last year
Boulter took five of her 19 break-point opportunities in the dramatic second and third sets
Boulter’s triumph made it two from two for the British players on Centre Court after Ryan Peniston continued his brilliant few weeks with a 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-1 success over French Open quarter-finalist Holger Rune.
A close opener went the way of the teenager after he decisively broke in the 10th game, but the in-form Peniston stuck with his highly-rated rival and edged a tie-breaker to earn thunderous applause from the crowd.
Rune lost his composure at the beginning of the decider when Peniston produced a wonderful return to a volley at the back of the court to take his first break point.
Ryan Peniston also triumphed on Centre Court over French Open quarter-finalist Holger Rune
The Dane smashed a tennis ball out of the court before he whacked his racket against a towel bin to earn himself a warning.
Even though Rune did break back instantly, Peniston stayed composed and secured another break before he closed out this latest impressive result.
He said on-court: ‘I am very, very happy with that. Tough start but managed to fight thanks to you guys.
‘It has been madness to be honest. A couple of weeks ago things were a lot different but now things have changed and I am loving it.’
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