Katie Boulter stuns fifth seed Jelena Ostapenko to secure a quarter-final spot at Eastbourne International
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Published 26/06/2024 at 16:40 GMT
Katie Boulter's excellent grass-court season continued with a confident 6-4 7-5 win over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the Eastbourne International quarter-finals. The British No. 1 will face Roland-Garros runner-up Jasmine Paolini next as her bid continues for a second grass title following a successful Nottingham title defence two weeks ago.
'Nothing stops here' - Boulter aims for more after San Diego title triumph
British No. 1 Katie Boulter extended her winning run on grass with a statement victory over fifth seed Jelena Ostapenko to reach the quarter-finals of the Rothesay International Eastbourne.
Boulter appeared confident throughout and took advantage of some error-laden service games by her opponent to storm into the next round, winning 6-4 7-5 in just over two hours.
The world no. 32 will be seeded for the first time at Wimbledon next week and backed up her excellent grass-court performances so far with another straight-sets win after powering past Croatia’s Petra Martic in the first round.
Two weeks after defending her title at the Nottingham Open, where she defeated former Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova in the final, the 27-year-old faced another stern test here in former French Open champion Ostapenko.
But that title defence has contributed to some renewed confidence for the British No. 1, which has been reflected in more assured hitting and an improved ability to dig herself out of tight matches.
"It's definitely taken a lot of the pressure off me," Boulter said.
"I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this grass-court season. I'm out here having fun and enjoying myself."
“Honestly, I was just trying to slap a little harder than she was," she said.
"She's so tough to play against, you never know what is going to happen and it's completely in her control."
Boulter controlled most of the first set, moving to a 5-1 lead as Ostapenko struggled with her serve and ball toss, handing over cheap points thanks to foot-faults and double faults.
But Boulter’s confidence wavered when serving for the set, giving the Latvian a break back. She missed another two chances in Ostapenko’s next service game before serving out on her seventh set point.
The second set proved a tighter affair with the players trading early breaks, but Boulter withstood constant pressure to dig herself out of a nervy service game for 4-4, producing some inspired serving before earning the crucial break at 5-5.
Fired up and cheered on by a packed home crowd, the 27-year-old secured the match at the first time of asking with another service winner.
As well as being on track for another deep run on grass, Boulter also had something else to celebrate: her selection in Team GB's Olympic squad for Paris next month.
The result set up a quarter-final clash with the in-form Italian Jasmine Paolini, who beat Belgium’s Elise Mertens and is up to a career high ranking of world no. 7 following her run to the French Open final.
There was more success for Britain at Eastbourne as Harriet Dart defeated former Australian Open Sofia Kenin 6-3 6-7(3) 6-0.
Billy Harris is through to a second successive ATP Tour quarter-final after winning his all-British clash 3-6 6-2 6-2 against Charles Broom.
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