Katie Boulter, 25, follows up her win against Alison Riske with an equally-impressive performance to beat Caroline Garcia; Harriet Dart goes out to second seed Simona Halep; Jack Draper lost to Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round of the cinch Championships at Queen's Club
Wednesday 15 June 2022 19:37, UK
Britain's Katie Boulter moved into the quarter-finals of the Rothesay Classic Birmingham after a straight-sets victory against Caroline Garcia.
Just 24 hours after she pulled off the best triumph by ranking of her career with victory over Alison Riske in the opening round, Boulter, 25, saw off France's Garcia, a former top-five player, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 in one hour and 30 minutes to record another milestone win.
The British No 4 has so far been prevented from achieving her potential by injuries and illness, and a leg problem suffered in March sidelined her for nearly three months.
But Boulter, ranked 141 in the world, is coming into form ahead of Wimbledon where she has been given a wild card.
"I'm absolutely ecstatic right now," said Boulter. "I've worked so hard the past few weeks with my injury.
"It kind of makes it feel worthwhile - and all the tough moments that I went through, and pushing through, really got me through today.
"I'm really happy to be in the quarter-finals and am looking forward to another good match.
"In the first set it was tough for both of us. I was just trying to take care of my service games.
"I played a really good tie-break and that is what it comes down to. I had to keep fighting and that is what I thought I did really well today."
Harriet Dart was unable to follow Boulter into the quarter-finals after suffering a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 defeat against second seed Simona Halep.
Halep's compatriot Sorana Cirstea was a comfortable 6-1 6-1 winner against Aleksandra Krunic.
"I feel great and feel like I played better than in my previous match," said Halep, 30.
"She [Dart] is never easy to play against. It is tough on grass because she is used to this surface but I was really pleased with how I played.
"I am doing my best every time I step on the court and looking to play as many matches as possible to get that feeling I had in 2019."
Boulter and Halep will play their quarter-final clash on Friday - the first time they have faced each other.
Halep added: "I know she is serving strong so it will be tough to return, but every match is difficult on grass and you never know what to expect.
"I am ready and I will fight to win."
Jack Draper suffered a straight-sets defeat to qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round of the cinch Championships to leave only one British player left in the men's singles at Queen's Club.
The British world No 99 had secured a career-best victory over American Taylor Fritz on Monday but struggled against an opponent who looked in supreme form during a 6-2 7-6 (7-2) victory and will break into the top-50 next week.
After Andy Murray pulled out of the competition with injury and Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans exited in the first round, this defeat for Draper means Ryan Peniston, the lesser-known British No 7, remains the last home hope in London.
Ruusuvuori beat former Queen's winner Feliciano Lopez to qualify for the main draw and showed his confidence from the off, forcing four break points in Draper's opening service game before he eventually broke the wild card.
Draper had to dig deep to prevent a further break soon after with two aces key, but the Finnish player did not let up and took the opener on his first set point inside 42 minutes.
The next set continued in a similar vein with Ruusuvuori happy to take on and land his shots while his knack of rapidly holding on his own serve kept the pressure on Draper.
It was the sixth service game of the second set which perfectly encapsulated Draper's display - with four aces married up with three double faults - in addition to a wonderful cross-court winner, which briefly had the Centre Court crowd on their feet.
Any confidence Draper took from that hold could not be built on, with Ruusuvuori's relentless consistency able to force more mistakes. While Ruusuvuori could not take his first set point, he clinched his next in the tie-breaker to reach the last eight.
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