Katie Boulter scored a gutsy comeback victory to reach the third round of the US Open for the very first time.
The British No 1 was pushed to the absolute limit by qualifier Yafan Wang of China, who has been in excellent form of late. Boulter, 27, had never been beyond the second round of a major outside of Wimbledon and this new milestone comes after a stellar summer.
Back in April she was loitering outside of the world’s top 150, but consistently good results – and even a first WTA title in Nottingham – has seen her climb significantly. This latest win puts her at 50th in the world, the first time she has broken that boundary in her career.
She had to do it the hard way though in a 5-7 6-1 6-4 victory which lasted two hours and 21 minutes.
Despite Wang, 29, being ranked 114th, she has won a staggering 57 matches this year (mainly on the second tier ITF tour) including five titles since April. She beat No 7 seed Caroline Garcia – who later said she was struggling due to a family bereavement – in the first round, and her tenacity was on full display at Flushing Meadows on Thursday.
She consistently forced the big-hitting Boulter to make additional shots, which frustrated the Brit early on. Boulter luckily got away with just a code violation after hitting a ball into the stands at 4-4 in the opening set and, despite pitting herself ahead thereafter, then squandered three set points and lost the set 7-5.
In the second set though Boulter reacted brilliantly, taking advantage of a low energy ebb from Wang to storm through it in 33 minutes.
The decider was markedly more strained, as the wind picked up and every one of Boulter’s service holds became an effort against Wang’s supreme court coverage. At 4-3 down, Boulter hit two double faults and was under serious pressure. But she fended off two break points and then hit two clutch forehand winners to get the crucial hold.
She trusted her forehand and first-strike tennis in the next game to break Wang and then batted away the Chinese player’s attempt at her own comeback to serve it out.
“I’m obviously super happy. The start of the match I was a little bit nervous and finishing it there I was a little nervous as well,” Boulter said afterwards. “I had to dig deep. I had a few set points in the first set and didn’t manage to convert. She played some really good tennis and I really had to battle and go for it at the same time. Credit to her, she’s a great player and doesn’t make it easy. I managed to get over the line so I’m extremely happy.
”[I was most pleased with] my resilience. I tactically was trying to be very aggressive and I think I got a little bit tight in the first set, wasn’t as loose as I wanted to be. I think I bounced back really quickly in the second, managed to loosen up and find ways to win points which I wasn’t doing fully in the first set. It made it easier for me. I’m really proud of myself the way I handled it.”
The draw has opened up in such a way that Boulter is still yet to play a seed. She has a huge opportunity to go farther than she ever has before at a slam, as she faces American Peyton Stearns – who ranked just one spot above her in the live table –for a place in the last-16 on Saturday.
Meanwhile Boulter’s compatriot Jodie Burrage put on a respectable performance against world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, despite losing in straight sets.
Sabalenka is an imposing force on the court, especially a show court like Louis Armstrong Stadium. Burrage dealt with the pressure of the occasion well – better than she did this summer on Centre Court at Wimbledon – and even allowed herself a small chuckle when the Belarusian shanked a forehand on set point. “She’s missing!” Burrage said to her box.
One of her team tried to encourage her, replying “she is human”, but Sabalenka was simply too good in the end and put the match away 6-3 6-2 in one hour and 14 minutes.
Burrage’s run to the second round was her best ever result in New York though, and she will rise to a new career-high world No 85.
