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Katie Boulter has questioned the umpire’s judgement after winning her opening match at the Hong Kong Open. The eighth seed survived a brief lapse in the second set to beat Viktorija Golubic 6-2 7-6(2). Boulter looked to be cruising to victory when she led 5-2 in the second set, but she was thrown off by an interruption and lost four games in a row before recovering to take it in a tiebreak. Afterwards, the Brit admitted the incident had gotten “under her skin”.
A former finalist in Hong Kong, Boulter served for the match at 5-2 in the second and even had a match point on her serve. During the crucial game, the British No. 1 complained to chair umpire S. Takahashi when a point was not replayed despite an audible noise coming from outside of the court.
It unsettled Boulter, who then had her serve broken twice in a row. After battling back to secure a straight-set victory, the 30-year-old immediately called out the chair official’s decision-making.
“It was interesting. I was playing some really good tennis. I feel like I should have closed it out but a couple of things happened,” Boulter said after blowing her big lead in set two.
“There was a little bit of interesting judgement which got under my skin a little bit and, usually, I'm pretty good at batting it off but I was a little tired. It's end of season and it seemed to get to me but lesson learned, I managed to get over the line.”
It’s the second time in as many weeks that Boulter has beaten Swiss ace Golubic. The Brit earned a convincing 6-2 6-1 win over the world No. 89 on her way to the Osaka semi-finals late last month. And Boulter is hoping to continue that form in Hong Kong, where she now faces Claire Liu.
A year ago, Boulter retired from her opening match here in tears. The Brit knew she was defending a lot of ranking points and was at risk of failing to make the main-draw cut-off for the Australian Open. Reflecting on that emotional setback, she said: “Gosh, I'm like chalk and cheese from that moment.
“Anything I'm feeling right now is nothing in comparison to what I was feeling last year. Last year was one of the toughest moments for me. Obviously, getting an injury, but then also fighting to be in the main draw in Australia. I really struggled last year. Every week that I was playing, I wasn't enjoying it. I wasn't enjoying what I was doing. I didn't physically feel like I was in a good place, and ultimately it showed in the end with an injury.
“Looking back on that, I'm really pleased with the way I've managed to turn things around. Having my new coach, who has really helped me this year, albeit it wasn't a perfect year, it's not over yet, but it's not been a perfect year, but it's much better than I was last year.”
The British women have enjoyed a strong Asian swing. Aside from Boulter’s run to the Osaka semi-finals, Sonay Kartal finished runner-up at the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan last month.
And Harriet Dart came through qualifying to win a maiden WTA Tour title in Guangzhou over the weekend. The Brit beat teenage star Lilli Tagger 4-6 6-3 6-4 in Sunday’s final and said: “I’ll try not to get too emotional. A big thank you to my team this week.
“It’s amazing to play in front of such a big crowd. It’s been so much fun here and I really appreciate it and hope to be back next year. This week shows that even when I’m down – and people think I’m down and out – I’m still able to overcome it. Today was a really tough match. I have no doubt Lilli will go on and win multiple titles. To come through a week like this means a lot.”
Britain now has four women in the top 100 – Boulter, Kartal, Dart, and Francesca Jones. Emma Raducanu is currently sitting at No. 106 and has not played a match since June due to a leg injury. Alicia Dudeney also reached a career-high ranking of No. 200 this week after reaching the second round of the WTA 125 event in Samsun, Turkey.
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