Boulter’s adventure in Florida is ended
BRITISH No.1 Katie Boulter missed out on a place in the Miami Open quarter-finals after she lost in straight sets to Victoria Azarenka.
The Leicestershire player had broken new ground with victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia in the previous round to reach the last 16 of the tournament for the first time.
But her journey in Florida was ended in the fourth round by her veteran Belarusian opponent.
A marathon first set went the way of former World No.1 Azarenka and it proved pivotal with Boulter unable to keep up her level in set two before she lost 7-5 6-1.
Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka looked on course to cruise past Boulter, recent winner of the San Diego Open, when she established a 5-2 lead in the first set.
World No.30 Boulter, of Woodhouse Eaves, had already faced a string of break points by this point and then saved a number of set points in an eighth game which sparked her into life.
She broke back against the Belarusian before she held again to level at 5-5.
However, with a tie-breaker on the horizon, Azarenka showed her experience to claim another break before she closed out a 71-minute first set.
The momentum had firmly swung now and Azarenka went on to break Boulter at the start of the second.
Another break followed before another poor service return by Boulter sealed Azarenka’s passage into the last eight where she will face Yulia Putintseva.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray is set for an “extended spell” on the sidelines after he suffered a serious ankle injury during his defeat to Tomas Machac at the Miami Open.
Murray lost a marathon encounter to the Czech player by a 5-7 7-5 7-6 score, but has seemingly left America with a more significant issue.
During the 10th game of the final set, Murray collapsed to the floor after he hurt his ankle when racing towards the net, having sealed the point which won the game.
A medical time-out was initially called for the three-time major winner, but he picked himself up and continued, only to lose the decider on a tie-breaker.
The 36-year-old, who is set to retire later this year, has now confirmed the severity of his injury with both his anterior talo-fubular ligament (ATFL) and calcaneofibular ligament (CFL) ruptured.
“Towards the end of my match in Miami I suffered a full rupture of my ATFL and near full thickness rupture of my CFL,” Murray said on Instagram.
“I will see an ankle specialist when I return home to determine next steps.
“Goes without saying this is a tough one to take and I’ll be out for an extended period. But I’ll be back with one hip and no ankle ligaments when the time is right.”
Murray revealed in February during the Dubai Open of his intention to retire this year, telling reporters: “I don’t plan on playing much past this summer.”
It followed a string of first-round exits in Australia and France, but Murray has managed to improve his form over the past month.
The double-Wimbledon champion had beaten Denis Shapovalov and David Goffin at recent tournaments before he claimed back-toback wins in Miami for the first time since August.
Murray defeated Matteo Berrettini in round one and claimed revenge over Australian Open conqueror Tomas Martin Etcheverry, but lost after three hours and 27 minutes to Machac on Sunday.
More worrying for Murray will be the prospect of a lengthy lay-off, especially with Wimbledon only three months away.