| Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July |
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Katie Boulter’s bid to reach the Wimbledon last 16 for the first time ended quickly as she was outclassed by defending champion Elena Rybakina.
The British number one was the final home player left in the singles draws, but lost 6-1 6-1 in just 57 minutes.
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina, seeded third, showed why she is heavily tipped to retain her title in a powerful display.
The 24-year-old dominated with her first serve and broke Boulter five times to move into the fourth round.
Rybakina, who had faced question marks about her level after recently being debilitated by a virus, will face Brazilian 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia for a place in the quarter-finals.
It was a difficult defeat for 26-year-old Boulter to digest and she looked dejected as she gave a muted thanks to the Centre Court crowd for their support when she departed.
When the dust settles, she will reflect on an encouraging British grass-court season which she hopes will be the springboard to greater consistency across the tour.
“I have to pick myself up and look at the positives,” said Boulter, who was aiming to reach the last 16 of a major for the first time.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a tough night but I’m going to sit here tomorrow morning and tell you that I’m at a career-high ranking, I’ve had some seriously positive weeks.
“I’ve come off the back of five long weeks with no injuries, no issues.
“They’re the things I’m going to be focusing on and really pushing forward on the rest of the year.”
‘Relentless’ Rybakina proves too strong
With her aggressive and flat groundstrokes suiting the grass courts, Boulter has thrived on the surface this year with a first WTA title at the Nottingham Open last month that lifted her to a career-high ranking of 77th in the world.
The Briton was able to replicate that level in her first two matches at the All England Club, hitting winners and serving strongly to beat Australia’s Daria Saville and Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova.
Stepping up in class against an opponent of Rybakina’s calibre was always likely to be difficult.
Rybakina quickly found her rhythm and that spelt trouble for Boulter, who was unable to make a dent on her opponent’s serve before being broken herself in the fourth game.
Boulter’s style suits playing on the slicker grass courts. But Rybakina was able to soak up…
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