British bolter bounces Czech in tribute to nan
Grandmother’s death inspires Boulter to beat sixth seed
Two days after the death of her grandmother, Brit Katie Boulter was back on grass at Wimbledon. She wasn’t going to miss a chance to play at her grandma’s favourite tennis tournament.
Her grandfather was at Centre Court watching every twist and every turn, and, ultimately, the emotional celebration that came with an upset victory.
Playing through the stress of her family’s loss, and the pressure of being in the biggest stadium at the All England Club against last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, Boulter staged a surprising comeback to beat sixth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
“It has been a tough few days for sure,” said Boulter, who is from Leicester. “I’ve tried to kind of get my emotions out and deal with the situation, try to keep my head on the tennis.
“I was lucky because my grandpa managed to come down from Leicester, and so we could keep him company and keep supporting him at the same time.”
The victory put the 25-year-old Boulter into the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
That’s a pretty good run for someone ranked 118th in the world who only was invited to play at Wimbledon with a wild card, even though she also beat Pliskova last week at a warm-up event in Eastbourne.
That was her first victory over a top-10 player. Now she has another.
“I managed to control my emotions very well and played a really good match,” Boulter said. “Ultimately it came down to the wire, and I think I stayed really strong in the tough moments. I think that’s why I got the win. It’s a dream come true and hopefully I have many more matches to play.”
Boulter will face Harmony Tan of France in the next round. The crowd, probably on Centre Court tomorrow, will certainly get behind Boulter again.
Just like her grandmother used to do.
“Her favourite tournament was Wimbledon,” Boulter said of her nan. “That’s why it’s a special one for me.”
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek also advanced — and won her 37th straight match.
Swiatek defeated Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to improve her winning streak, the longest since Martina Hingis also won 37 matches in a row in 1997.
No 25 Petra Kvitova beat Ana Bogdan 6-1, 7-6 (5), and will next face Paula Badosa. The fourthseeded Spaniard defeated Irina Bara 6-3, 6-2.
Coco Gauff, 18, beat Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-2, 6-3 to become the fourth US woman in the third round, joining No 8 seed Jessica
Pegula, No 20 Amanda Anisimova and Alison Riske-Amritraj.
In the men’s draw, Nick Kyrgios advanced to the third round for the sixth time in eight Wimbledon appearances.
The unseeded Australian, who reached the quarter-finals at the All England Club in his debut in 2014, beat 26th-seeded Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.
It was a much easier match than the first round, when Kyrgios was taken to five sets by British wild card entry Paul Jubb. “Getting over the line in that first round was massive,” Kyrgios said. “Today I was kind of in my zone. I just wanted to remind everyone that I’m pretty good.” Kyrgios will next face Stefanos Tsitsipas. The fourth-seeded Greek beat Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.
Rafael Nadal, the two-time Wimbledon champion seeded second this year, beat Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in his quest for a third consecutive major title.
No 17 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain withdrew from the event after testing positive for Covid-19 while Diego Schwartzman and Denis Shapovalov lost.