Katie Boulter excited for future after Wimbledon exit
"It's exciting to be in this situation, and to be able to compete with a top-20 player. It's something I've imagined myself doing. Now, I'm actually doing it"
Friday 6 July 2018 12:09, UK
Britain's Katie Boulter is firmly focused on the future and building on her recent form, despite exiting Wimbledon at the hands of Naomi Osaka on Thursday.
Leading into the Championships Boulter met Osaka in Birmingham and suffered a heavy 6-1 6-2 loss in less than an hour.
As fate would have it, another duel with the player ranked 18 in the world was the 21-year-old's reward for her opening-round victory over Veronica Cepede Royg at the All England Club.
Although Boulter wasn't able to prevail over the Japanese star at the second time of asking, her performance highlighted the form that's seen her climb purposefully up the rankings so far this season.
There's nothing I can say that's wrong. She has a good serve. She hit a couple of return winners from my serve, which I think is pretty hard to do so she's pretty solid from the back.
"It [the match in Birmingham] really showed me where I need to be, what I need to do to get there. It's a very clear thing for me and my team to see someone like that, to play against someone of that calibre," said the Leicestershire 21-year-old.
"It's very inspiring to be, two weeks later, much closer to her, actually feeling like I'm in the match having a chance to win.
"It's exciting to be in this situation, and to be able to compete with a top-20 player. It's something I've imagined myself doing. Now, I'm actually doing it."
During last year's Wimbledon, the Brit took to the court with inspirational notes to assist her, however 12 months on she believes that her self-confidence has taken her to the next level in women's tennis.
"I think last year I used the notes a lot more, purely because I hadn't been in this environment before. I hadn't played a match at Wimbledon before. I think it made a huge difference to me right there and then. I feel like I believe in myself a lot more this year. I've won a lot more matches. I feel a lot more comfortable," said world No 122, Boulter.
Now, looking ahead Boulter has her sights set on the main draws at the Grand Slams and working on gaining automatic entry rather than having to qualify for majors.
"I think I'll be putting a lot of emphasis on the WTA Tour. However, I will also be playing a mixture of up-and-down tournaments," said Boulter.
"I think it's great to get matches under your belt. Also it's really nice to play people a lot higher than you and have a free shot at them."
Osaka believes Boulter has a positive future ahead of her following their latest meeting and feels she is capable of breaking into the top 100.
"I think she's really good," said Osaka, who reached the third round of a Grand Slam for a fifth successive time. "There's nothing I can say that's wrong. She has a good serve. She hit a couple of return winners from my serve, which I think is pretty hard to do so she's pretty solid from the back.
"I just think that when we're rallying sometimes, I hit a higher-paced ball, that is a little bit difficult for her.
"Seeing how she won the match yesterday against someone that's a known returner, I think she's going to do fine."
Osaka's victory sees her progressing into the third round at a fifth consecutive major and she's keen to "improve a lot of things" before facing Angelique Kerber.
The 20-year-old will be working on them with the assistance of hitting partner Sascha Bajin who is helping her focus by being "nit-picky" and challenging her to take to the net more.
The two players have met three times before and Osaka is clear on the task at hand.
"Well for me, since she's such a great mover, I think just saying really calm and accepting if she makes a really good winner or if I make a mistake," said Osaka. "Because playing against her, you have to expect long rallies because she doesn't really miss."
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