Becoming British number one, winning her first WTA Tour title and moving up to a career-best ranking – it has been some week for Katie Boulter, but she wants this to just be the beginning.
Boulter, 26, beat compatriot Jodie Burrage in the Nottingham Open final on Sunday and has jumped up to 77th in the latest WTA rankings – five places better than her previous best of 82nd in February 2019.
“I’m at a career high and really happy, but not content and have a long way to go,” said Boulter, who described her Nottingham win as something she had dreamed of since she was four years old.
“My aim is not to be top 100, it’s to be 50, 40, 30. Ever since I broke through the first time I believed I had the game to become that player and that will always be my main focus.”
It has been a mixed few years for British women’s tennis.
The undoubted highlight was Emma Raducanu’s stunning US Open triumph in 2021 when, aged 18, she became the first British female to win a Grand Slam singles title in 44 years.
But you only have to look back a few weeks for the low point.
Seven players lost in French Open qualifying, meaning no British female featured in the main draw at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2009 US Open.
There were also no Britons in the top 100 at the cut-off point for this year’s Wimbledon, with British women instead relying on wildcards or having to fight through three rounds of qualifying to appear at SW19.
But the Nottingham Open provided a much-needed shot in the arm for British women’s tennis.
With Raducanu missing the grass-court season following hand and ankle surgery, Boulter became only the 23rd player to become British female number one since the rankings began in 1975.
“Naturally, I am very proud to join the women before me who have reached that historic spot,” Boulter said last Monday.
“This little girl would be proud if I told her one day she would be British number one. Whether it be for one minute, one day or one year – it’s not my biggest goal but shows I’m heading in the right direction.”
The battle to keep that number one ranking became an interesting side story throughout Boulter’s progress in Nottingham.
Before the Nottingham Open, five players – Boulter (126th), Burrage (131st), Katie Swan (134th), Harriet Dart (143rd) and Heather Watson (195th) – had the chance to end the tournament…
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