'I dreamed of this moment' - Katie Boulter powers past Jodie Burrage in all-British Nottingham Open final
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Updated 18/06/2023 at 15:31 GMT
Katie Boulter secured the first WTA title of her career after overcoming fellow Brit 6-3 6-3 at the Nottingham Open. It was a landmark day for Boulter, who became only the second wild card to win in Nottingham after Karolina Pliskova in 2016. The 26-year-old comfortably held onto her British No.1 ranking, which Jodie Burrage would have taken with victory.
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Katie Boulter came out on top in the first all-British WTA final since 1977 after cruising past Jodie Burrage with a straight sets 6-3 6-3 win at the Nottingham Open.
The 26-year-old knew that defeat would see her dethroned as British No.1, but she never looked like surrendering that ranking after a masterful display in the East Midlands to claim her first-ever tour-level title.
Speaking after the match, she said: “I'm definitely going to be sleeping with this trophy tonight! I dreamed of this moment at this tournament since I was a little girl that was training here when I was four or five years old."
"Coming here as a fan and now coming here as a player and dreaming big and finding a way to win it, means more than everything to me.
“I know it's been really tough, I've played against so many British players. I'm going to be pretty happy not to play one, so you guys can get behind me. It's always a privilege to play in front of you guys and we appreciate an all-British final. What an incredible achievement it is.”
Boulter started the match in electric fashion after breaking Burrage in the first game and holding the next on her serve with relative ease to move 2-0 ahead.
Burrage secured a crucial hold on her next service game to 15 to halve the deficit, but Boulter showed strength on her serve and extended the lead once again.
The 24-year-old was showing signs of frustration after overcooking a backhand, and Boulter secured a double break point on a double fault for Burrage.
She was showing signs of recovery with an excellent return of serve, but Boulter wrapped things up with an ace to leave everything seemingly unravelling for Burrage at 5-1 down.
Boulter’s backhand was masterful and looked like it would be used to break Burrage again, but the latter claimed a crucial hold to keep the first set alive.
It was time for Boulter to falter after hitting a routine forehand wide, allowing Burrage to take advantage at break point after the former struck another shot long.
But the British No.1 moved one set up within 35 minutes after breaking Burrage again and showcasing her wonderful repertoire of returns in the process.
Boulter was showing supreme confidence and started set two in the way she ended set one with a love hold, while Burrage was really struggling to find her range on the forehand.
The 26-year-old was in cruise control and broke Burrage for the fourth time in the match, this time to love to move 2-0 ahead.
Despite scoring with a delicious backhand effort, unforced errors continued to plague Burrage and allowed Boulter to move 3-0 in front when she hit a routine return into the net.
Burrage took a much-needed service game to get on the board in set two, but Boulter extended her lead again as the former hit a wild forehand return wide, in what was turning into a chastening afternoon for the 24-year-old.
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Katie Boulter overcame Jodie Burrage at the Nottingham Open final.
Image credit: Getty Images
After holding her serve again, Burrage desperately needed to break Boulter for only a second time in the match to keep her slender championship hopes alive.
It was not to be though, as Boulter comfortably held to 15 with some more sublime serving in what was a display of supreme confidence.
To Burrage’s credit, she forced Boulter to serve for what would be her first main tour title by holding her serve again, after the latter forced a cross-court backhand long.
A beautiful ace down the line set up Championship point, but the following backhand went inches wide to leave Boulter to sweat a little.
However, it was job done with Championship point number two when Burrage hit a forehand long to end the match after one hour and 15 minutes.
It was a landmark day for Boulter, who became only the second wild card to win at Nottingham after Karolina Pliskova in 2016.
At the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships in the Netherlands, it was an all-Russian affair as Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Veronika Kudermetova in a 4-6 6-4 7-6(3) victory.
The 28-year-old world No. 26 was coming off the back of a third-round exit at Roland-Garros, and will hope to use the win on grass to improve her record at Wimbledon, where her best career result is two second-round exits.
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