Boulter plans to buck trend and says she will be back
No fading into obscurity for this young British player, writes Charlie Eccleshare at Wimbledon
If it feels like we have been here many times before, that is because, well, we have. A “plucky” young Brit performing well and then fading into obscurity is as entrenched a Wimbledon tradition as strawberries and cream. What then of the latest big hope, Katie Boulter, the 21-year-old from Leicester who acquitted herself well yesterday in a 6-3, 6-4 defeat by the world No18 Naomi Osaka?
There were certainly signs of encouragement for Boulter, who used her thunderbolt of a forehand to push her Japanese rival to two tight sets. Boulter also served effectively, finding pace and clever angles with her lean 5ft 11in frame.
Ultimately, though, there was not to be the Leicester City-style fairy tale that the Foxes-supporting Boulter had been hoping for. Nor was she able to channel inspiration from the England strip she wore as she entered the Wimbledon grounds yesterday.
The British player coped far better than she did against the same opponent in Birmingham three weeks ago (a 6-1, 6-2 shellacking) but yesterday’s second-round match was decided by Osaka’s far better break-point conversion – three from four as opposed to Boulter’s one out of eight. It is a lesson that Boulter should learn from, along with a myriad of others in what has been a very positive month. She has beaten three top-100 players in that time, risen to a career-high ranking of No122 and won her first grand slam match by beating Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg on Tuesday.
Her losers’ cheque of £63,000 will also be a significant boost to a player whose career earnings up until this week had stood at less than £170,000.
“It’s been spectacular, something I’ve always dreamed of,” Boulter