Katie Boulter has claimed Britain’s first big title of the 2024 tennis season. As she continues to shoot up the rankings, just how good can she get in the run up to Wimbledon?
Boulter announced herself to British tennis fans for the first time last year when she won the title at Eastbourne in the run up to Wimbledon.
At SW19, Boulter again impressed with victories over Daria Saville and Viktoriya Tomova, before she was ultimately defeated by the 2022 Champion Elena Rybakina.
Since her promising showing at the back end of the British Summer, Boulter has gone from strength to strength gradually honing her skill set as she heads towards the world’s top 32.
She currently sits just inside the world’s top 50, but following her performances at the WTA 500 event in San Diego, she has demonstrated that she is more than capable of mixing with the best of the WTA circuit.
Every player that Boulter beat en route to the title in San Diego was ranked higher than her, including the World #13 Beatriz Haddad Maia, #26 Emma Navarro and #28 Donna Vekic.
Boulter’s opponent in the final would be the recent US Open quarter-finalist Marta Kostyuk.
The Brit started the final the better of the two, gathering the early break to lead 2-1, but Kostyuk showed her quality to rally back and eventually claim a tight opening set 7-5.
However, from that point on the final was all about Boulter.
Kostyuk only won a further four games in the match as she had no answer for Boulter’s brilliant attacking tennis.
Boulter seems to be playing with a looseness and confidence that is being replicated in her tennis, her forehand is particularly deadly but she is perfectly adept on both wings.
The only slight negative that may need some attention is her serve, but outside of that there is very little to critique of Boulter’s game.
Victory in San Diego is not only the biggest of Boulter’s career, but is also the first big win for British tennis in 2024. In the absence of Emma Raducanu, Boulter has stepped up to the plate and continues to prove to be Britain’s leading light in the WTA.
As she continues to fly up the rankings, one can only wonder quite how high she can go. She now heads to Indian Wells with all the confidence in the World, as we all hope for another excellent showing.
In other tennis news, Katie Boulter’s partner Alex De Minaur also notched up the biggest win of his career, beating Casper Ruud in the final of the Acapulco 500 and continuing his impressive rise up the rankings. Could we be seeing tennis’ next power couple?
De Minaur and Boulter weren’t the only players to complete career best victories at the weekend, as France’s Ugo Humbert won his second title of the year, but his first ATP 500, defeating a number of fantastic players on his way to the title, including Andy Murray, Hubert Hurkacz, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Bublik. Keep an eye on him for the rest of the season.
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