Katie Boulter’s barren run in the Grand Slam arena continues after she lost in the second round of the Australian Open.
The No22 seed was beaten 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 by Russian Veronika Kudermetova and is still yet to make it past the third round in a major.
For a player of her quality and ball-striking ability that is not good enough and she knows it. Boulter has promised to prioritise the Slams this year but she will have to wait until May, and the French Open, to have another crack.
She was watched on Court 3 by fiancee Alex de Minaur. Their first-round matches overlapped so De Minaur only had chance to sneak in for the last few games. This time he wrapped up his 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tristan Boyer and was in the Boulter box from the start, incognito in a black cap and hoodie, sat between his future mother in law Susan and Boulter’s coach Biljana Veselinovic.
On paper this looked a pretty easy second-round draw against the world No75 who before this week had not won a Grand Slam match since Wimbledon 2023.
But Kudermatova is a former world No9 and her potential level remains high. She landed 80 per cent of her first serves in the first half of the opening set to go 5-2 up.
Katie Boulter was knocked out of the Australian Open in the second round as her shaky grand slam record rolls on
Opponent Veronika Kudermetova (right) at times struggled for fitness but showed her class
The British No1 was watched by fiancee Alex de Minaur – who has booked his third-round spot
Boulter saved three set points and then nailed a backhand return down the line to recoup one of two breaks and in the next changeover Kudermetova called for the trainer, indicating pain in her chest.
Boulter took the opportunity to have a chat with Veselinovic and bang down a few serves and when she comfortably broke for 5-5 she looked odds-on to take the set. But Kudermetova restabilised and played a flawless tiebreak.
It is difficult to diagnose what issues Kudermetova might have been feeling but she dipped slightly and, as if on the other end of a seesaw, Boulter’s level rose.
She had a break point early in the third set that could have been decisive. Kudermetova, who had become rather becalmed, started hitting out and Boulter ran out of answers.
