Katie Boulter aiming to break top 30 after reaching San Diego Open final
Katie Boulter vowed to keep having fun on the court after beating Emma Navarro to reach her biggest career final at the San Diego Open.
The British No 1, who claimed her first WTA Tour title on grass in Nottingham last summer, beat the New Yorker to book her place in the final of a WTA 500 tournament for the first time after a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Boulter has had a flying start to the year and victory against her third top-30 opponent of the week guarantees she will rise at least 14 places in the rankings to a career high of 35. She will break the top 30 if she can defeat Marta Kostyuk in the final on Sunday night – where she will be watched by her boyfriend, Alex de Minaur, who scheduled an early-morning flight after retaining his title in Acapulco.
“Today was one of those matches that everything just clicked,” Boulter said. “I came on to the court and started the first few games and I could feel the power that she had and the way she works and manoeuvres the ball.
“I had to come up with something better and play more aggressive and go for it. I think that was my chance to just trust myself and trust the work I’ve put in and it paid off. It’s my biggest career final so far. I’m just going to keep having fun.”
The 27-year-old from Leicester dominated on her serve against Navarro, the third seed, winning more than 87% of first-serve points and allowing the American just two break points, both of which she saved. Rain stopped play early in the second set but the delay did nothing to halt Boulter’s momentum as she wrapped up victory in 74 minutes.
“It was obviously very tricky with the rain delay in the middle of the match,” said Boulter, who was ranked well outside the top 100 a year ago.
“I felt like I had the momentum behind me, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself in the rain delay to stay focused and stay warm and continue that momentum. I think I came out and played some really good stuff to start with and kept that rolling and I think that was super important today.”
Kostyuk is also having one of the best weeks of her career. The 21-year-old from Ukraine – ranked No 34 in the world – recovered from 5-1 down in the first set to stun the American top seed, Jessica Pegula, 7-6 (4), 6-1 and secure her first win against a top-five player.