US Edition
Katie Boulter: I felt privileged to still be playing after escaping disqualification
Boulter now faces the unseeded Peyton Stearns in the third round but Jodie Burrage was knocked out by No 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka
“I felt privileged to still be playing,” said the British No1 Katie Boulter, who flirted with US Open disqualification when she slapped a ball into the stands.
The incident arrived in the eighth game of Boulter’s second-round win over Yafan Wang, after her opponent had performed several feats of escapology to win a 20-shot rally. As Boulter turned to collect the ball for her next serve, she flicked at it in what looked like a mild fit of pique.
The intention was merely to bounce it off the backboard, but she miscued and the ball flew over the wall into the stand. Fortunately, she happened to direct it towards the empty area where the TV camera stands, thereby avoiding the sort of default that Novak Djokovic suffered here when he struck a line judge in 2020.
“It was completely unintentional, and luckily it wasn’t anywhere close to anyone,” said Boulter, whose hand flew instinctively to her face as soon as she realised what she had done. “But for a second I was, yeah, I was feeling pretty bad, if I’m honest.
“It would be my worst nightmare,” Boulter added, when asked if she had been aware of the possibility of a default. “She threw the ball really quickly at me. I reacted, expecting it to hit the wall and then come at me, that I could catch the ball and then move along. I’ll just continue but I’ll be very careful.”
Boulter received a code-violation warning of “ball abuse” from the chair umpire, which felt like a victory in the light of what could have happened. From then on, she did a sterling job of maintaining her composure against Wang, a Chinese qualifier who came into the match on a run of a 11 straight wins. Boulter, 27, had never been beyond the second round of a major outside of Wimbledon, and this new milestone comes after a stellar summer.
Back in April she was loitering outside of the world’s top 150, but consistently good results - and even a first WTA title in Nottingham - has seen her climb significantly. This latest win puts her at 50th in the world, the first time she has broken that boundary in her career.
She had to do it the hard way though in a 5-7 6-1 6-4 victory which lasted two hours and 21 minutes.
Despite Wang, 29, being ranked 114th, she has won a staggering 57 matches this year (mainly on the second tier ITF tour) including five titles since April. A skilful retriever, she consistently forced the big-hitting Boulter to hit additional shots. But in the second set, Boulter reacted brilliantly, taking advantage of an energy ebb from Wang to storm through it in 33 minutes.
The decider was markedly more strained, as the wind picked up and every one of Boulter’s service holds became an effort against Wang’s supreme court coverage. At 4-3 down, Boulter hit two double faults and was under serious pressure. But she fended off two break points and then hit two clutch forehand winners to get the crucial hold.
“I’m obviously super happy. The start of the match I was a little bit nervous and finishing it there I was a little nervous as well,” Boulter said afterwards. “I had to dig deep. I had a few set points in the first set and didn’t manage to convert. She played some really good tennis and I really had to battle and go for it at the same time.
”[I was most pleased with] my resilience. I tactically was trying to be very aggressive and I think I got a little bit tight in the first set, wasn’t as loose as I wanted to be. I think I bounced back really quickly in the second, managed to loosen up and find ways to win points which I wasn’t doing fully in the first set. It made it easier for me. I’m really proud of myself the way I handled it.”
The draw has opened up in such a way that Boulter is still yet to play a seed. She has a huge opportunity to go further than she ever has before at a slam, as she faces American Peyton Stearns – who ranked just one spot above her in the live table – for a place in the last 16 on Saturday.
Meanwhile Boulter’s compatriot Jodie Burrage put on a respectable performance against world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, despite losing in straight sets.