Katie Boulter continued her resurgence in the final weeks of her season, advancing to the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Open with a hard-fought 7-6(7), 6-4 victory over China's Xiyu Wang. After a difficult stretch following Wimbledon, where she compiled a 6-8 record between July and mid-October without managing to win consecutive matches at any event, Boulter's decision to extend her Asian tour has proven beneficial.
Having reached the semi-finals of the Tokyo WTA 500 event last week, Boulter has now secured two strong performances in Hong Kong, a WTA 250 event, against lower-ranked opponents. Wang, ranked No 100, was Boulter's sole top 100 opponent in her five victories over the past two weeks. The wins have not only boosted her confidence but also earned her valuable ranking points.
"That was quite a match," Boulter remarked. "She's an incredible opponent, she never lets up. Full credit to her, she just keeps hitting and she's so talented. She made me work so hard today, which I'm not that happy about to be honest."
The victory required Boulter to endure a grueling 78-minute opening set, where she recovered from a break down at 2-4 to force a tiebreak. Wang, a towering 23-year-old with a formidable lefty forehand, refused to yield, eventually generating the first set point at 6-5 on Boulter's serve. Boulter saved the set point with a brilliant second serve down the T, forcing a return error from Wang before clinching the tiebreak on her second set point.
Despite breaking serve early in the second set, Boulter remained uneasy. After surrendering the break at 4-3 with a double fault following a lengthy service game, Boulter regained her composure and closed out the match by winning the final two games.
"I'm honestly, just a little bit too stubborn with myself to let myself go," Boulter said. "I wish I could relax a little bit but I just wanted to keep fighting and keep doing the best that I could. She played some incredible tennis. A lot of power, a lot of finesse in her strokes. I just had to stay there as much as I possibly could. I'm proud of myself today."
In her penultimate tournament of the season, Boulter, the second seed, will face either the 7th seed Varvara Gracheva or Anastasia Zakharova for a spot in the semi-finals.
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