Britain’s Katie Boulter and her Australian boyfriend Alex de Minaur had a day to remember as the tennis couple both won grass-court tour titles on Sunday.
Boulter retained her Nottingham Open crown, in front of a home crowd, with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory in the final over Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Her success came just hours after top seed De Minaur defeated Sebastian Korda of the United States 6-2, 6-4 to take the s’Hertogenbosch title -- an equivalent men’s warm-up event for Wimbledon.
After securing her third WTA tour title, Boulter jokingly chided De Minaur for not making the relatively short journey from the Netherlands to the English city of Nottingham to cheer her on.
READ MORE | Wimbledon 2024: French Open champion Alcaraz eager to take clay form into grass season
“My boyfriend didn’t make the trip even though I thought he might after his win in ‘sHertogenbosch but yeah we’ll have to be talking about that tonight and see if we’re going to be still together,” said Boulter. “I don’t know, but I hope he’s going to be listening to this because we’ve got some talking to do!”
It was the second time the pair had won titles in the same week, with the 27-year-old Boulter’s latest success capping a fine day for British tennis after Jack Draper claimed his maiden title by winning the Stuttgart Open earlier on Sunday.
Both Boulter and Pliskova had a lengthy day of competitive action after weather delays led to their semi-finals also being staged on Sunday. Boulter beat former US Open champion and compatriot Emma Raducanu, again after losing the first set, while Pliskova saw of France’s Diane Parry 6-7(9), 6-1, 6-4.
READ MORE | Sumit Nagal loses Challenger final in Perugia
Defeat by Boulter meant Pliskova, a former US Open and Wimbledon finalist, had lost in Nottingham for the first time after winning the title in her only previous appearance in 2016.
“Today was brutal,” said 27-year-old Boulter. “It is incredible to be here, it’s got a special place in my heart, it always will do. It’s been an incredible week for me, mentally tough afer a really hard clay-court season.”
Boulter surged into a 4-2 lead in the final only for Pliskova to reel of four successive games as she won the opening set. But an undaunted Boulter secured an early break in the second set and, significantly, didn’t let it slip before serving out to square the match.
Boulter then carried that momentum into the deciding set, breaking Pliskova twice to secure a second straight Nottingham title. Earlier, Boulter beat Raducanu 6-7(13), 6-3, 6-4 in a semifinal held over from Saturday because of bad light after her 21-year-old fellow Briton had taken the first set in a marathon tie-break.
The match lasted over three hours, with Raducanu enjoying an encouraging return to action following a seven-week absence as she manages her schedule following wrist and ankle surgery last year.
“I feel strong, I feel like I could play tomorrow, I am just shaking of a bit of a bug and cold but otherwise physically I am great,” said Raducanu.
Comments
SHARE