Boulter makes honest Wimbledon admission after shock second round exit

Yahoo

2 days ago

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 4, 2024 Britain's Katie Boulter in action during her second round match against Britain's Harriet Dart REUTERS/Paul Childs
By Will Jennings at Wimbledon
Crestfallen Katie Boulter admits her Wimbledon moment 'may never come' after her latest shock second round exit.
The Leicestershire player, 28, blew a one-set lead against unknown Argentinian Solana Sierra to go down 6-7(7) 6-2 6-1 on Court 1 on Wednesday.
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Boulter, who lost her British No.1 status to Emma Raducanu earlier this summer, reached the third round in both 2022 and 2023 but has now fallen at the second hurdle at the last two times of asking.
The current world No.43 has never progressed further than the last 32 of the main draw and admits time may be running out after another gut-wrenching defeat.
"I mean, of course it hurts," said Boulter, who also threw away a lead against British rival Harriet Dart in the second round last year.
"It's a really tough pill to swallow. It always is here. Unfortunately it's just the way that it is. Sometimes I just have to accept that my moment might not come at some point.
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"I'm just going to keep working hard and keep trying my hardest. Ultimately that's all I can do and keep putting myself out there and keep improving every single year.
"I think you can look at a piece of paper and be like, 'Oh, this is a terrible loss'. Ultimately, she played better than me on the day. That's how it is. I thought she played a good match."
Boulter battled into a one-set lead in front of a partisan home crowd by edging a thrilling tie-break 9-7.
But she was unable to maintain that momentum in the second as lucky loser Sierra came flying out of the blocks to level.
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And she emulated those exploits in the decider, taking full advantage of her last minute entry into the main draw to dash Boulter's hopes and advance to the third round.
Boulter had stunned ninth seed Paula Badosa, a four-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, in the first round on Monday to kick off her campaign in style.
But it fell flat against Sierra, ranked over 50 places below her, 48 hours later as a power-packed performance from the South American saw Boulter's latest SW19 dream die.
"She was hitting it very fast at me,' added Boulter.
"I'm not entirely sure. It's not often that I feel like that. I didn't feel like that against Paula. Even when she was hitting full power, and I would say she's someone who has one of the most powerful shots on tour, I didn't feel the same.
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"I'm not a patient person. I want results. I want to do better at Wimbledon. I think that's the hard part about all of this, is that I want to do better in weeks like this."
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