1 day ago
5
Backing up a big win is never an easy thing, but when you hit 14 double faults, it’s almost impossible. After her outstanding win over ninth seed Paula Badosa on the opening day, Katie Boulter harboured genuine hopes of going further than ever before at this year’s Wimbledon, but her serve misfired badly and her 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-1 defeat by world No 101 Solana Sierra, a lucky loser from Argentina, will hurt badly.
Sierra held her game together well and accepted the gifts that came her way as she reached the third round in her main draw debut. But Boulter’s game unravelled in worrying fashion, her ball toss all over the place and her confidence disintegrating. She won just 29% of points on her second serve, including one point from 20 on it in the last two sets.
It probably didn’t help that Court No 1 was almost empty as the match began, the fans taking their chance for an extended break after the excitement of Cameron Norrie’s win over Frances Tiafoe. The atmosphere, as a result, was flat and Boulter’s game matched it.
It was Sierra who began with a double fault to be broken in the opening game but in a tricky wind, which blew down the court, Boulter seemed to struggle from the start, her ball toss getting away from her. Her fighting spirit was the only thing keeping her in it and she battled back well, recovering from 5-2 to take the opeinng set on her third set point.
But when your serve is misfiring, the effort of trying to compensate for it can quickly spread through the rest of your game and Boulter fell apart. Sierra broke twice to lead 4-1 in the second set and though Boulter got one of the breaks back it was a brief respite as the Argentinian levelled the match.
Matt Little, her fitness coach, was on his feet in the box trying to encourage Boulter but it was no use. By that stage, her belief had gone. A break in the first game of the decider put Sierra on her way and she stormed through the rest of the set, Boulter’s tame backhand into the net on the final point a fair summation of her day.
How Boulter could have used some of Sonay Kartal’s confidence. Having reached the third round last year, a performance which kickstarted her stunning rise up the rankings, world No 51 Kartal wanted to at least match that this year and she brushed aside Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-2, a win that will take her back inside the top 50.
“I wanted to back that up this year,” said Kartal, who will play the 12th seed, Diana Shnaider of Russia, next. “This tournament I wanted to show I’m at this level and can consistently play here. Last 12 months I have thrown myself on to the scene. This year I’ve taken a conscious effort of only wanting to play the bigger matches against the best players on tour, day in, day out. I’m playing with more freedom and more confidence.”
Billy Harris battled well but lost 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7) to Nuno Borges of Portugal and though Oliver Tarvet showed he deserves to be at this level with a fine display against Carlos Alcaraz, it was over to Arthur Fery, who was due to play Luciano Darderi of Italy later on Wednesday.
English (US)