Before her abundant summer on the grass began, Katie Boulter had not beaten a single top 40 player in her life. Her overall record against the top 50 opposition was 4-14, not where she would like to be a player with such high aspirations, and she would still fly in the biggest moments. Still, some believed that Boulter would come to enjoy the bigger occasions and thrive on the toughest challenges.
On the biggest stage of all, the Central Court, Boulter’s reputation agrees with reality in a spectacular way, as she achieved the biggest victory of her career to upset Karolina Pliskova, the sixth ranked number and last year’s finalist, reaching for for the first time until the third round of the Grand Slam in his career with a victory with 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Her victory was the highlight of another positive day for the British players. Heather Watson reached the third round of Wimbledon for the fourth time in her career, defeating Wang Qiang 7-5, 6-4. Liam Brody, meanwhile, went deeper than ever in a Grand Slam tournament, defeating Diego Schwartzman, 12th, 6-2, 4-6, 0-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1.
“I have absolutely no words at the moment, I’m literally shaking,” Boulter said after his victory. Despite his silence, Boulter entered the match with tangible faith. After starting the grass season with the best career victory over No.35 Alison Riske in Birmingham, just last week Boulter beat Pliskova 6-4 in the third set for her first victory in the top 10. Meanwhile, Pliskova is a shadow to himself since returning from arm surgery in March.
“I think it really helped me,” Boulter said. “It’s easy to say that I believe I can win this match. But it really matters that I went out and did it a week before. “
With obvious weapons at her disposal, Boulter’s abilities are no secret. She stands at 5’11 “, blessed with a strong first serve and a heavy forehand, with which she constantly seeks to dictate. She knows she has the tools to break through most defenses.
But the best players in the world pushed for her weaknesses, revealing her defense, and Pliskova’s controlled aggression triumphed in the first set. During a weak second set, however, Boulter began to prevail. She decisively kept her serve in the second half, and then was the most consistent toy in the tiebreak.
With the level of the match, Boulter stood forward. She served extremely well in the third set, going through her own serve games until she hit Pliskova’s second serve. The opening finally came at 4-4, when she scored a great rematch with a crushing backhand effort down the line. With the best victory in her life on the line, she attacked without expression until the end.
Britain’s Heather Watson celebrates after winning her second-round match against China’s Wang Qiang. Photo: Matthew Childs / Reuters
Moments after the victory, when she achieved her achievement and the crowd in the central court roared, tears welled up in Boulter’s eyes. She reflects on both the family who came to support her and those who cannot be there: “I will probably cry,” she said. “My grandmother died two days ago and I just want to dedicate this to her.”
Three years ago, Boulter had established herself in the top 100 and was in a position to participate regularly in these matches. But then a stress fracture in her back forced her out. After being ranked high enough to compete at Wimbledon in 2019, she was forced to retire. It ended the year outside the top 300.
It was a long way back. As Boulter tried to rise again in the rankings (now she is number 118), any progress he made was stunted by constant injury problems. Then there was the challenge of humbling herself to play in the lower-level ITF tournaments that she thought she had finally escaped. Only during this year’s grass season, with opportunities to replace the big stages, did things finally come together.
“I feel like I’ve shown some of the things I’m capable of in some of the games lately,” she said earlier in the week. “It simply came to our notice then. For me, this is the most difficult challenge. Of course, I have so much to do in my game. I really feel I can go on. But I feel like I can compete with many of the best players in the world. ”
On the central court, these feelings were fully realized. She then faces Harmony Tan of France, who beat Serena Williams, with a great opportunity to move deeper into the tournament and enjoy even bigger matches.
As many British players prospered, Britain’s No.2 Harriet Darth failed to beat Jessica Pegula, 12th, who reached the third round with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory.
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