It was quite a whirlwind of a week for Leicester-born Katie Boulter in Nottingham last week. The Brit, who has made lots of progress in her results and in her maturity on the court, looks to build on what was her best week at WTA’s highest level, where she beat former Grand Slam champion Sam Stosur and also beat Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer on her way to a first WTA quarterfinal.
Boulter shed a bit of light on the way she was feeling about her game at its best moment in her career and discussed how she feels she can not only live with these talented elite players on tour, but beat them and the week in Nottingham was proof in the pudding.
“Yeah it was really good you know. It kind of helps me see where I am right now. I’ve been putting in so much effort into everything that I’ve been doing. It’s been a really good week and an eye-opener that can really help me for the rest of the season, and the rest of the year. I feel like i can compete with these players and I think I showed that last week. I think, you know, until you start beating these people who are ranked higher, bigger names, you know of course you’re going to doubt yourself a little bit. It’s natural to do so. But yeah I think that’s just been a little bit of an eye-opener I can do it and I am getting better at everything.”
Boulter had several wins to be proud of in Nottingham, but the victory over Stosur filled her with much joy as she sat amongst the press, talking about that moment and what it means for her for the remainder of this grass-court season.
“I think just competing. I’ve not been in that environment before. I haven’t played many of those matches and finding a way to get over that line and win the match means a lot to me. Obviously with someone of that calibre, I means she’s a great player, she’s a grand slam champion. Yeah it gives me a lot of faith I can do a lot more going forward.”
The scenery and lack of glam on the ITF circuit can be something that really grounds a player as a person and allows them to appreciate the really good times when they do come around and it really shapes the makeup of a player as they develop in the latter years of their career. Boulter has seen the lows and the highs on the ITF tour, most notably recently at the 100k tournament in Surbiton where she made the quarter-finals.
“Surbiton was a great week for me, was a great start, It gave me a lot of confidence going into Nottingham and I’ve got a lot of wins behind me recently before the grass as well, which has made a huge impact. When I’m out there playing someone of a higher level, I know I can compete and be in there with a chance.”
After exceeding expectations in Nottingham, Boulter now has been rewarded with a wild card for the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham, where she gets to see where her game is at against a Top-20 player in Naomi Osaka, who is gaining lots of confidence on the grass and is playing her way into fearsome form. Boulter may not get the desired result but the key for the Brit is to at least compete well and see how far she has come in a long old process for the Brit.
“It’s really exciting for me. Like last week was one of my first WTAs, here’s another chance, anther big one to test my skills against someone who’s 20 in the world, or Top 20. I’m really thankful to have this opportunity and I’m looking to getting out there and playing.”
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