Boulter is blown off course by Azarenka
Brit runs out of answers as wind swirls in Miami
AS leaden clouds covered the blue skies of Miami, Katie Boulter was blown away by a combination of a brisk wind and Victoria Azarenka.
The British No 1 is in the form of her life but she struggled with the conditions and the class of her opponent, going down 7-5, 6-1 in the last 16 of the Miami Open.
Not even the arrival of her boyfriend Alex de Minaur — high-tailing it over in record time after winning his third-round match — could turn things around for the Brit.
It is a measure of 27-year-old Boulter’s recent progress that she came in as the favourite on paper against a two-time Grand Slam champion, seeded 24 to Azarenka’s 27.
And this felt like a decent opportunity, with this section of the draw opening up after the elimination of Aryna Sabalenka.
The start of the match was delayed when Azarenka (right) noticed some chips in the blue paintwork on the synthetic court. One theory was that the damage had been caused by Yulia Putintseva — a keen racket-chucker — taking out her frustration on the surface.
That previous match — Putintseva beat Anhelina Kalinina and will play Azarenka next — was a moonballing war of attrition but Boulter and Azarenka came out blasting. The Belarusian is a two-time Australian Open champion and at her peak was the only woman to hold a candle to the raging inferno that was Serena Williams. Although Azarenka has not scaled those heights since taking time off for maternity leave and dealing with complex child custody issues in 2016-17, she still strikes a lovely tennis ball and this was a tough afternoon for Boulter. The Brit struggles in wind and the suspicion remains that she matches up best against more passive players who give her the room to attack, rather than fellow big hitters. Her worst defeat of the season came at the hands of gung-ho Italian Camila Giorgi.
From the start of this match she struggled to cope with the pure ball-striking of Azarenka.
Boulter ranked an impressive seventh in a table of the highest percentage of service games won in the last 12 months, but almost every one felt like a struggle to hold yesterday.
At 5-2 and 40-15 down she was in danger of being thrashed — and not just by the lively breeze that ruffled the courtside palm trees. But Boulter is clearly brimming with confidence at the moment and she saved five set points with some fearless hitting to level at 5-5.
On the balance of play, it would have been an almighty heist had Boulter managed to snatch that first set and her Belarusian opponent duly steadied the ship to close it out.
It was at this juncture that De Minaur showed up, less than an hour after finishing off JanLennard Struff 7-6, 6-4, showing the same speed off the court as he does on it.
But the tide was not for turning and the Australian had to wait until 5-0 to see his girlfriend win a game.
Still, another solid week for Boulter and she should move up one spot to 26 in the world.
If Boulter can continue to stave off the injuries that have plagued her career, there is every reason to hope that she can continue tracking upwards.
Her defeat ended Britain’s participation in Florida after Cam Norrie lost overnight on Sunday to defending champion and world No4 Daniil Medvedev. Just like Boulter, it was 7-5, 6-1.