1 year ago
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Katie Boulter is presently ranked 126th successful the world, but has been arsenic precocious arsenic 82nd| Venue: Nottingham Tennis Centre Dates: 12-18 June |
| Coverage: Live sum regular connected the BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website & app. |
Katie Boulter bushed chap Briton Heather Watson to scope the Nottingham Open last - her archetypal WTA final.
British fig 1 Boulter won 6-4 7-5 successful a rain-affected semi-final astatine the Nottingham Tennis Centre connected Saturday.
It could beryllium an all-British last arsenic Jodie Burrage plays France's Alize Cornet successful the 2nd semi-final.
In the men's competition, Andy Murray is looking to triumph back-to-back grass-court tournaments and faces Portugal's Nuno Borges successful the semi-final.
"I've worked truthful hard for this and I'm conscionable going to support plugging away," said 26-year-old Boulter. "Even if it's not my time, it's been a large week for maine and I volition support moving hard.
"It means truthful overmuch to me, particularly here. It was a truly pugnacious lucifer and I conscionable tried to enactment my bosom connected the enactment and managed to get done successful the end.
"She [Watson] is an unthinkable subordinate and I knew it would beryllium a battle. I person truthful overmuch clip for her, she is an astonishing girl."
It has been a fantastic tourney for the British players with 4 women reaching the quarter-finals, the archetypal clip this has happened successful the 50-year past of the WTA.
This was the archetypal all-British WTA semi-final since Sue Barker bushed Virginia Wade successful Boston, USA successful March 1979.
Watson, 31, has won 4 WTA titles successful her vocation but nary of them connected writer and nary of them successful the United Kingdom, with her past WTA rubric being astatine the Mexican Open successful February 2020.
Boulter could not instrumentality a break-point accidental successful the opening crippled of the match, but did past interruption Watson's service successful the 5th crippled successful the past constituent earlier a 90-minute rainfall delay.
When play resumed, Watson instantly got the archetypal acceptable backmost connected serve, lone for Boulter, impressing with her almighty forehand shots, to regain the vantage successful the ninth crippled earlier serving retired the set.
Watson led 3-0 successful the 2nd set, but Boulter fought backmost to triumph 7 of the adjacent 9 games to determination into the final.
Boulter became British fig 1 for the archetypal clip earlier this week, replacing the injured Emma Raducanu, and volition clasp her presumption erstwhile the rankings are updated connected Monday, unless Burrage wins the title.
English (US)