An inspired Katie Boulter celebrated the biggest win of her career by ranking as the Briton ousted world number two Elena Rybakina to reach the Queen’s semi-finals.
Having overcome Jaqueline Cristian earlier in the day to reach the last eight, Boulter returned to court on Friday evening and stunned Australian Open champion Rybakina in an outstanding 7-5 2-6 6-4 victory.
World number 73 Boulter saved 12 of the 14 break points she faced over two hours and 39 minutes against former Wimbledon winner Rybakina.
The 29-year-old was roared on by passionate home support and skipped across the court in delight after Rybakina netted a return on Boulter’s third match point.
Boulter will next face Croatia’s Donna Vekic for a place in the final.
Fellow Briton Emma Raducanu could potentially also have to play two matches in the same day after reaching the quarter-finals earlier on Friday.
Raducanu achieved her first win against a top-20 opponent in over a year by eliminating Romanian world number 18 Sorana Cirstea 6-4 6-2 to reach the last eight.
It was a significant win for Raducanu against an opponent who thrashed her in the Transylvania Open final in February – and the 23-year-old had not won back-to-back matches since that tournament four months ago.
But there was not enough time for the British number one to contest her quarter-final against Kamilla Rakhimova – meaning she would need to play that match and her semi-final on Saturday should she defeat the 78th-ranked Russian-born Uzbek.
No play was possible at Queen’s on Thursday because of rain, meaning all four quarter-finals needed to be played on Friday.
Source:
www.bbc.com
