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Katie Boulter calls the Centre Court here in Nottingham her ‘house’ and showed on Thursday she will not be handing the keys over without a fight.
The 28-year-old, who grew up in nearby Leicester and trained at this tennis centre as a child, has won the Nottingham Open in each of the past two years. And she kept her bid for a record-breaking third successive title on course by beating Sonay Kartal in a 2hr 26min Battle of Britain.
Boulter appeared to be wilting in the 28°C heat against her Billie Jean King Cup team-mate, requiring painkillers after being blown away in the second set, then going a break down in the third.
‘I am definitely proper British because I can’t handle the heat,’ the eighth seed joked afterwards. ‘It was killing me.’
But Boulter came back from the dead to break back for 4-4 in the deciding set, then went on to seal a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 win and set up a quarter-final today against American McCartney Kessler.
‘This is as close as home can ever feel like for me,’ said the world No 39, who confirmed she has entered the US Open mixed doubles with her fiance Alex de Minaur. ‘I literally feel like I step into my house when I come on to this court.
Leicestershire-born Katie Boulter's quest for a third-consecutive Nottingham Open title continues at her home court
The British No2 faced off in a marathon clash with her British compatriot Sonay Kartal
Boulter was affected by the extreme heat but gritted her teeth and pulled off the gutsy win
‘At the very end, I just wanted to grit my teeth as hard as I could and get over the line.’
Boulter will reclaim the British No 1 spot if she reaches another final in Nottingham, having been displaced by Emma Raducanu last week. However, she expects Kartal to soon surpass her in the rankings.
Kartal was ranked as low as 271st at the start of last year’s grass-court season. But the 23-year-old has enjoyed an astonishing rise in the past 12 months to soar into the world top 50 for the first time.
‘I am going into Wimbledon feeling super confident,’ said Kartal. ‘My goal was to end the year top 50, so I am proud to have done it halfway through.
‘To have three Brits close together in the rankings, the No 1 spot is in the back of our minds. It is really good to have that rivalry.’
British 17-year-old Mimi Xu lost 7-5, 6-1 to Polish sixth seed Magda Linette in her debut WTA tournament. Defeat came a day after she sat a biology A-level exam - and was handed a wildcard for Wimbledon.
‘After my match on Tuesday, I was just in revision mode and I didn’t think about tennis until after the exam,’ said Xu. ‘To get the news about the wildcard was amazing. I was so happy.’
