Katie Boulter rounds off record-breaking day at Wimbledon with stunning victory
The British number two sank Spanish ninth seed Paula Badosa 6-2 3-6 6-4 for only her fourth win over a top-10 player, and her first in more than a year.
She said: 'I mean, it's certainly up there. Centre Court, Wimbledon, as a Brit, against a top-10 player, for me doesn't get that much better.
'It is one of the reasons why I do play tennis, to win matches like that, and to have a go at the best in the world. I do feel like it is one of the best ones for sure in my career.
'I can't tell you it's the top one, because there's been a few, but it's definitely been top three.'
It meant seven heaven for Britain with Boulter and six other home stars through to round two, the highest total in a single day in the open era.
It was also sweet revenge for Boulter, who lost in three sets to Badosa in their only other meeting, at the French Open last year.
EPIC @katiecboulter WIN AT @Wimbledon 🔥
Katie knocks out the No.9 seed on Centre Court#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/3CZhBcHTuX
— LTA (@the_LTA) June 30, 2025
The 28-year-old had to wait until the early evening to start her match after Carlos Alcaraz's four-and-a-half-hour marathon against Fabio Fognini.
But she seemed determined not to hang around, racing away with the first set in just 31 minutes, before the majority of the crowd had returned to Centre Court.
Badosa's timing had seemed way off, but just as she rediscovered her rhythm, Boulter's deserted her with three double faults from 30-15 gifting her opponent a break to level the match.
Boulter fell a break down in the decider but hit straight back and then struck at 5-4, breaking to 15 to win in an hour and 54 minutes.
However, she revealed: 'I was bricking it completely.
'I've played a lot of matches recently where I started out great and kind of let it slip. I just tried to compete today and fight.'
Boulter will face Argentinian lucky loser Solana Sierra in the second round on Wednesday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
34 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Wimbledon star quit tennis at 23 for gruelling work as a fencer before returning to sport and finding love with Brit ace
He likely wouldn't have met his girlfriend without returning to tennis ON THE FENCE Wimbledon star quit tennis at 23 for gruelling work as a fencer before returning to sport and finding love with Brit ace WHEN Alex Bolt quit tennis aged just 23, he would never have imagined making four appearances at Wimbledon. Within days of hanging up his racquet, the Aussie, now 32, joined his brother-in-law's fencing business and began hard graft in the sweltering Southern Australian heat. Advertisement 7 Alex Bolt quit tennis aged just 23 to work as a fencer in March 2016 Credit: EPA 7 Bolt with British tennis ace girlfriend Katie Swan in London Credit: INSTAGRAM After a flurry of defeats against lower-ranked players, Bolt decided to call it quits after "hating his time on the court" in March 2016. Hours after an emotional farewell chat with his then-coach Simon Rea, Bolt joined the family business and set his alarm clock for 5:30am to make a 45-minute drive to his new fencing job. In 2020, he told ATP Tour: "Let me tell you, that was work. Putting up retaining walls. Digging holes. Sticking posts in the ground. Cementing. I didn't know much of anything about what I was doing, but I was doing it. "Those were long, hot days. It can get pretty hot out on a tennis court, but this was rough. I was drained to say the least. Those 5:30 wake-up calls? My excitement was gone after Day 2. That was not fun at all." Advertisement READ MORE TENNIS NEWS FRENCH FANCY Djokovic set to face OnlyFans star and 'sexiest player in tennis' at Wimbledon Just to rub salt in the wounds, one of his first jobs was around basketball and tennis courts at a primary school. After grinding out his new job for a few months, Bolt was persuaded to buy a pair of boots and play in a local Aussie Rules team called the Mypolonga Tigers, which he says "helped him regain his happiness". He said: "It was probably a couple months after that when I started missing tennis. I didn't think I'd ever pick up a racquet. But I wasn't totally out of touch. I'd made some great mates with the Aussie boys, and was still in group chats with them." Bolt then thought 'that could've been me' when he saw his mate Jordan Thompson crack the Top 100 and win four ATP Challenger Tour events later in 2016. Advertisement CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS After hesitating for a while, Bolt got a random call from tennis coach Todd Langman, who was working with his best pal Thanasi Kokkinakis. Todd saw a picture Bolt posted on Facebook at the end of the Aussie Rules season and gave him a call - and Bolt didn't need much persuading. British world No719 qualifies for Wimbledon but is BANNED from claiming £66,000 prize money 7 Bolt found happiness again while playing Aussie Rules with his pals during his break from tennis Advertisement After nine months away from the court, Bolt's first day back was the 2016 AFL Grand Final. He was massively out of shape and was told to start from scratch. Todd even made Bolt play against young kids, telling him to not back down and "to give everything he had". He made his official return to action at a Challenger in Adelaide at the start of 2017, with his Aussie Rules pals coming out to cheer him on while he made the main draw and lost in the second round. Bolt, who is now dating British tennis ace Katie Swan, was then given a wild card into Australian Open qualies in 2017. Advertisement He said: "It was all such a blur. Before I knew it, I was beating Julien Benneteau in the final round to reach the main draw of a Slam for the first time." Despite losing to Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round, Bolt finished the year with a singles ranking of No. 192 - an improvement of almost 400 places from the end of 2016. 7 British star Swan is dating Bolt 7 The Aussie qualified for Wimbledon 2025 Advertisement He also had a handy year on the doubles circuit, making five Challenger finals with three victories to finish the season ranked No. 86, a career high doubles ranking. Before his best singles result in a third round at the Australian Open in 2019, Bolt booked his first Wimbledon main draw debut in 2018 after beating best friend Kokkinakis. Fast forward seven years and Bolt, currently No.194 in the world, has beaten 19-year-old Spaniard Martin Landaluce in the final round of qualifying to reach the main draw of Wimbledon for the fourth time. He takes on 10th seed Ben Shelton today in the first round. Advertisement Meanwhile, girlfriend Swan's dream of returning to Wimbledon was crushed in the first qualifying round in a tight defeat to Leyre Romero Gormaz 7-6(2), 7-6(6). 7 Bolt beat teenager Martin Landaluce at Roehampton to reach the Wimbledon main draw this week It was only as recently as 2023 that Swan was going toe-to-toe with Katie Boulter for the British No.1 ranking, before Emma Raducanu won it back last month. Amazingly, Swan, 26, is not the only British tennis player called Katie in a relationship with an Aussie called Alex, with Boulter dating world No.11 Alex De Minaur. Advertisement As well as representing Australia in Davis Cup, Bolt has been ranked as high as world No.125 in singles and peaked at world No.81 in doubles. Elbow surgery in 2022 provided a slight setback, forcing Bolt out of competition for six months. In 2024, Bolt won back-to-back singles titles at the Swan Hill Tennis International, an ITF 25 grass-court event. 7 Bolt and Swan have been an item since 2022 Credit: INSTAGRAM
North Wales Chronicle
44 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Cadillac boss expects rivals to be ‘apoplectic' if they lose to F1's newest team
Cadillac's long-anticipated entry for 2026 was finally rubber-stamped in March providing them with a year to get ready for next season's opener in Australia. Cadillac, a division of American motoring giant General Motors, will be supported by TWG Motorsports and powered by Ferrari before it develops its own engines. BREAKING: Cadillac confirmed as 11th team on the 2026 F1 grid#F1 — Formula 1 (@F1) March 7, 2025 They will become the first new constructor in a decade with one of four bases at Silverstone – the venue for this weekend's British Grand Prix – as well as Indiana, North Carolina and Michigan in the United States. But despite the heavyweight backing of GM, British team principal Lowdon warned: 'We have had discussions with our shareholders about what expectations should be, and the easiest way I can describe it to them is, can you imagine if you have owned a Formula One team for 10 years and another team rocks up and beats you? You would be apoplectic, so annoyed, so you have to assume that any new team coming in is going to be last, otherwise what has gone wrong somewhere else? 'We want to be as competitive as we can but we have to be realistic, too. We see the numbers and we are happy with our progress. But we don't know where we will be other than if we beat someone, then they are going to be angry. 'There is no real magic to Formula One. It is just very, very difficult. The reason it is so difficult is because everyone is doing the same thing on the same day, and that is something that TWG and GM fully understand. We are partnering with a manufacturer that understands racing. You just tell them the truth.' The race to 2026 begins. Join the journey. TWG Motorsports | @Cadillac | @GM | @F1 #F1 #CadillacF1Team — Cadillac Formula 1 Team (@Cadillac_F1) May 8, 2025 Cadillac's arrival as the 11th team on the grid will open up two driver vacancies. Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton's former wingman, is understood to be interested in a return to a full-time seat (he is currently reserve driver at Mercedes) in F1. Sergio Perez, dropped by Red Bull at the end of last year, and former Formula Two champion Felipe Drugovich, have also been linked. Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu, who raced with Alfa Romeo and Sauber across three seasons, is another in the frame. But Lowdon continued: 'Nothing is decided yet. There is a very strong argument to say that a new team in its first year of racing would benefit hugely from drivers who are experienced. 'We know who is in the market, and we have got a good idea of what we need, but we are some way off reaching that stage of finalising our line-up.'
STV News
an hour ago
- STV News
British players make history on magical Monday at Wimbledon
Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal and Arthur Fery were the stars of the show on a record-breaking opening day for the large British cohort at Wimbledon. The trio were among seven home players to record victories at the All England Club, the best tally on any day of the championships in the open era. The best was saved for last as Boulter took out ninth seed Paula Badosa 6-2 3-6 6-4 on Centre Court, with Britain's top two women both through after Emma Raducanu comfortably defeated compatriot Mimi Xu. British number three Kartal and wild card Fery saw off the respective women's and men's 20th seeds, with the former ousting Jelena Ostapenko 7-5 2-6 6-2 and the latter defeating Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-4. For Fery, it is by a long distance the biggest victory of his life, with the 22-year-old only once having beaten a top-100 player before. Fery, whose French father Loic owns Lorient football club, has seen his ranking drop outside the top 400 but he made a mockery of that with a treasured first Wimbledon victory. Fery, who lives down the road, lost to Daniil Medvedev on his debut two years ago and then heartbreakingly in five sets against Daniel Altmaier last summer. 'I think I used the experience from last year to get over the line today,' he said. 'Last year was really tough to lose in that manner. So definitely very proud and very special moment today to win here.' Kartal reached the third round as a qualifier 12 months ago but her hopes of another good run appeared to have been dealt a blow when she drew seasoned grass-court campaigner Ostapenko in round one. The Latvian is a former semi-finalist and beat Kartal in Eastbourne last week but, after recovering from 5-2 down in the opening set and saving three set points, the 23-year-old also proved the stronger in the decider. It is Kartal's third best win by ranking of her career and her best at a grand slam. She described the match as one of the toughest she had ever played, saying: 'Typically I struggle against the big hitters. So to be able to do that, get the win in front of the home crowd, I'm super proud of that one. 'I feel confident. I feel like this is the best I've ever played on grass. It's the most confident I've also got in my game, as well. I think I'm in a pretty good spot for round two.' Kartal's win was swiftly followed by another notable British success, this time for debutant Oliver Tarvet, who made it four victories in a row after coming through qualifying with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over Swiss Leandro Riedi to earn a crack at Carlos Alcaraz. Former British number one Cameron Norrie claimed his first win on grass this year with a narrow 6-3 3-6 6-4 7-6 (3) victory over Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut. Norrie rediscovered his form on clay after almost dropping out of the top 100 and will next take on 12th seed Frances Tiafoe. 'I wanted to enjoy like a kid playing Wimbledon again,' said Norrie. 'I was not thinking I was British number one or British number two. I was there to play and enjoy the match. 'I've been playing well, feeling the ball good. It was time to just compete. He's one of the toughest guys to compete against, so I really had to earn the win today and earn the competitive certificate against him.' The final British winner was Billy Harris, who took advantage of a change of opponent to claim a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory over lucky loser Dusan Lajovic for his first grand slam success. The world number 151 had been due to play former semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz before he withdrew. Seven home players suffered first-round losses, with British number two Jacob Fearnley the major disappointment after going down in straight sets to hot Brazilian prospect Joao Fonseca. Harriet Dart, debutant Oliver Crawford, former boys' champion Henry Searle and 16-year-olds Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic also exited the tournament. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
