Notes are not quite enough for Katie
IT was the day she had dreamed of since she first picked up a racket.
But Katie Boulter knew her Wimbledon debut would be tough against a player ranked 178 places above her.
So the 20-year-old from Leicestershire took a little help with her on to the court – a sheet of paper with motivational messages typed on it.
At one change of ends, Miss Boulter could be seen poring over phrases such as ‘You deserve this – focus’, ‘Trust yourself’ and ‘Show how much you want it’.
The ploy very nearly worked as she came close to pulling off a shock win over world number 60 Christina McHale.
The Briton won the first set and was a break of serve up in the deciding third set, only for her American opponent to fight back to win 3-6 7-5 6-3.
An emotional Miss Boulter covered her face with a towel as she left Court 12.
Afterwards she said she was devastated to have lost a match she had dreamed of since she was small but added: ‘I’m proud to represent my country and to give my all.’
The performance made her realise she was ready to take on the world’s top players, she said.
‘It just shows how much I want this and how much I want to be at this level.’
Referring to the motivational messages that helped her, she added: ‘I think a lot of it is just to believe in myself and to trust my game.’
Miss Boulter, who had to take a year away from tennis through illness, had prepared them with her coach – copying Andy Murray, who has been seen clutching written notes on court in the past.
Miss Boulter, who could be seen exchanging regular glances with her mother Sue, 52, said the Wimbledon crowd had lifted her but admitted she had been nervous.
‘It’s my Wimbledon debut. It is something that I have dreamed of since I was a little girl,’ she said.
‘I have always wanted to play here. I think it would be wrong... inhuman if you weren’t nervous.’