Feelgood factor lifts Boulter
KATIE BOULTER is looking to outfox Naomi Osaka today.
The 21-year-old Leicester fan takes on the 18th seed from Japan for a place in the third round after a stunning first Wimbledon win on Tuesday.
World No.122 ranked Boulter, one of Britain’s rising stars, is hoping to take the buzz from England’s World Cup run into the biggest match of her life.
And wildcard Boulter insists the wave of sporting euphoria reminds of her of Leicester’s incredible Premier League success two years ago. Boul- ter, already snapped up by Nike and featured in glamour magazine Vogue last week, said: “I think there is a feelgood factor out there.
“I’m going to bring it back to something that I felt at home. When Leicester won the Premier League I feel like everyone had a massive lift in the city.
“And I feel like I was one of those people. It was a little bit of magic and hopefully I can do something out there tomorrow.
“I have had some lovely messages from a lot of people from Leicester and I’m always proud to support the Foxes.
“And I don’t feel any pressure, I’m the underdog. I’m just going to go out there and enjoy every second of it and use the experience the best that I can.”
Fellow Brit wildcard Katie Swan, 19, went down 6-0 6-3 to Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu on Court Three.
Swan said: “My advice to Katie would be don’t lose the first set 6-0. She should go out and enjoy it and just swing freely.”
The good friends played together in the doubles but went down 6-3 6-2 to Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic and Su-Wei Hsieh of Taipei.
Meanwhile British No.1 Johanna Konta will face a fired-up Dominika Cibulkova this afternoon.
The 29-year-old from Slovakia was edged out of the seeds when seven-time winner Serena Williams was rewarded for past glory and the world No33 Cibulkova thought that decision was unfair.
Cibulkova said: “Yes of course, I am paying for the situation against her because I am not seeded but I cannot change anything.
“I am playing Konta, so I will try my best. I have played many times in Grand Slams against home favourites.”