Table of Contents
British number one Katie Boulter sailed through her opening match to set up a second-round meeting with Coco Gauff at the WTA National Bank Open in Montreal.
The 27-year-old ended the home hopes of Canadian wildcard Rebecca Marino with a 6-3 6-1 win in an hour and six minutes. World number 72 Boulter is yet to drop a set in Canada after previously easing through two qualification rounds. Sixth seed Gauff had a first-round bye, but fellow American Venus Williams lost 6-2 7-5 to compatriot Madison Keys. Williams, 43, saved seven match points to break serve at 5-4 down in the second set but Keys immediately broke back before finally converting a ninth match point overall to serve out for the win. Boulter, meanwhile, never looked back after breaking world number 103 Marino’s serve to love in the fifth game of the opening set and sealed it with another break on her first set point. She faced four break points on her own serve in the second set but saved them all, including two in a key game at 3-1 up, before completing a relatively comfortable victory.
Other participants of the WTA National Bank Open
Karolina Pliskova will face Poland’s world number one Iga Swiatek in round two after the Czech took two hours and 22 minutes to beat China’s Zhu Lin 6-3 6-7 (8-10) 6-2. Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka beat Poland’s Magda Linette 6-3 6-0 for her 187th career win at WTA 1000 level, breaking the record set by Simona Halep since the level began in 2009. Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, 33, makes her much-anticipated return to the court on Tuesday evening, facing Australian Kimberly Birrell in the Dane’s first competitive match since the 2020 Australian Open.
Katie Boulter
Katie Boulter (born 1 August 1996) is an English tennis player and the current British women’s number one.
Boulter, from Woodhouse Eaves, Leicestershire, has won seven singles titles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women’s Circuit.
On 17 July 2023, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 73.
On 31 December 2018, she peaked at No. 431 in the WTA doubles rankings.
Boulter was ranked the No. 10 junior tennis player in the world in March 2014.
She is based at the Lawn Tennis Association’s National Tennis Centre in Roehampton and coached by Jeremy Bates, Nigel Sears and Mark Taylor.
2023: British No. 1, first WTA Tour title, consecutive Wimbledon third round
She became the British player No. 1 on 12 June 2023, following a semifinal showing at the Surbiton Trophy.[28] She reached the quarterfinals at the Nottingham Open as one of four British players for a historic first at a WTA event. She went one step further to reach her first WTA semifinal with a win over compatriot Harriet Dart. She defeated another Brit Heather Watson to setup an all-British final with Jodie Burrage since 1977. As a result, she returned to the top 100 in the rankings at No. 77 on 19 June 2023. She won her first WTA tournament defeating Burrage in the final.