British number one Katie Boulter kept her nerve after a frustrating umpiring incident to beat Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) and reach the last 16 of the Hong Kong Open.
Katie Boulter in action (Credits: BBC Sport)
Boulter looked in complete control, serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set, when the match took an unexpected turn. After a point was not replayed despite an audible noise from outside causing a distraction, Boulter complained to the umpire — and promptly lost her service game. She then dropped her next service game too as the world number 89 from Switzerland refused to go quietly.
Boulter calls it “lesson learned” after Hong Kong Open drama
“It was interesting,” said Boulter, who was the losing finalist at this event in 2024. “I was playing some really good tennis. I feel like I should have closed it out but a couple of things happened. There was a little bit of interesting judgement which got under my skin a little bit and, usually, I’m pretty good at batting it off but I was a little tired.”
The 29-year-old admitted the late-season grind played its part: “It’s end of season and it seemed to get to me but lesson learned, I managed to get over the line.” To her credit, she regrouped in time for the tie-break, winning it 7-2 to close out the straight-sets victory.
Claire Liu clash next for Boulter in Hong Kong
The win comes hot on the heels of Boulter’s strong run at the Japan Open last month, where she beat Golubic in dominant fashion on her way to the semi-finals. Now the world number 49 will face American Claire Liu for a place in the Hong Kong Open quarter-finals.
Having finished as runner-up in Hong Kong last year, Boulter will be desperate to go one step further — provided she can keep those late-season frustrations in check.
Also Read: Katie Boulter Reclaims British Number One With Gritty Comeback Win at Japan Open | Katie Boulter Storms Into Japan Open Quarter-Finals With Under-an-Hour Demolition of Golubic
Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
