Katie Boulter has spent 18 months adjusting to her role as the British No 1. This period has been marked by significant achievements and opportunities; from securing her initial titles, making her top-30 debut, and appearing on fashion magazine covers to experiencing the support of her fans at tournaments worldwide. However, the downside of fame has occasionally been unsettling, including encounters with a few disturbed individuals claiming to be fans.
"People have followed me at times," Boulter recounts. "I once went to pick up Alex [de Minaur, her boyfriend and fellow tennis player] from Queens, and someone followed me in a car. We went to Sloane Square, got out, walked around the shops, and the same car followed us home. I was with Alex, so it was okay, but it wasn't a great feeling."
Boulter acknowledges that she is not alone in this experience and that many women and girls worry about such incidents at various stages of their lives, whether they are athletes or not. "It's something I've always thought about. As women, if we're home alone at night, we sometimes think about these things."
She speaks about being followed quite calmly, possibly because numerous tennis players have faced harassment or stalking. Recently, a man who stalked Boulter's British teammate, Emma Raducanu, was given a restraining order in 2022 for repeatedly appearing at her home. Boulter nods when mentioning American WTA player Danielle Collins, who shared her own stalking experience this year. "It happens to all of us; it's part of life when you're in the public eye," Boulter says. "Obviously, you don't feel comfortable..."
Has she had any particularly frightening situations? "Once in Nottingham [at the tournament she won in 2023 and 2024], someone messaged me on social media saying, 'I'm outside. I'm going to hurt you if you come outside.' I alerted the WTA, and they found the guy, who was actually on site. These things happen all the time. We are well protected, which makes you feel safe. The WTA does a great job with that. I do feel protected as much as possible, which at least eases your mind a bit."
Balancing this with the pressure of winning tournaments seems daunting, but Boulter shrugs it off. "It's kind of normal nowadays. It's a strange world sometimes." Perhaps it's no surprise that Boulter prefers to stay "under the radar," though that has become increasingly difficult. This year was undoubtedly her best season yet. She won two titles, including the prestigious San Diego Open, a WTA 500 event in March. In all five matches that week, she beat players ranked above her, including Donna Vekic and Emma Navarro, who later made grand slam semi-finals. She also defended her title in Nottingham, famously beating Raducanu in a rain-interrupted semi-final, and became an Olympian in Paris, reaching the doubles quarter-finals with Heather Watson.
We meet in the expansive lobby of a beachside hotel resort in Torremolinos, near Málaga, during the week she led Great Britain to the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals. Boulter's hair is pulled back into her signature high ponytail, and she holds a takeaway coffee cup after a late-night finish in their match the previous day. Her recent achievements caught the attention of Billie Jean King, who singled out her potential in a BBC interview. "Katie Boulter, people should pay attention to her," King said. "I've been watching her for about five years now, and every year she's gotten a little bit better – I don't think people appreciate her enough. She's gotten quicker, more consistent."
Boulter, 28, was touched by the compliment. "It was a really nice moment, very sweet," she says. "It gives you confidence, makes you realize people are noticing. Coming from someone like her, who's been in this game for a long time, knows what she's doing, and is a legend we all look up to, it means a lot. When she says things like that, you listen."
Beyond King and her close circle, Boulter says she doesn't pay much attention to external opinions. She avoids spending too much time on her phone, citing pressures to look a certain way and the judgment players face on social media. Her downtime is spent with family, and her close relationship with her grandfather inspired her to work with the charity Age UK during the Covid pandemic. She recently participated in a walking tennis session with elderly players and felt re-energised: "I always try to give back to that generation. Sometimes we forget about the elderly. You don't always get a chance to sit down and have a conversation. It's never enough, but I try to do more."
Boulter appears as a woman and athlete who knows herself well. On the court, the key breakthrough was finally being able to rely on her body. This is largely due to incorporating Andy Murray's former trainer Matt Little into her team last year, along with the ongoing support of her coach Biljana Veselinovic and personal physiotherapist Rory Mee. The focus in 2024 was on being more intentional with her program, including on-court physical work alongside the gym. Her body has held up better than ever, as evidenced by her decision to play a seven-week stint across Asia during the autumn, reaching her third final of the year in Hong Kong. Ending a 51-match season with no major body concerns is something Boulter has never experienced, after dealing with injury setbacks and chronic fatigue in her early 20s and teens. "Touch wood," she says superstitiously, when referring to her improvements.
She describes the off-season as "a joke," as she will barely get a week to relax before pre-season training begins, but is trying to reflect on 2024. "Many people go their whole careers without winning a title, and I sometimes don't realize how hard it is or appreciate it. At the time, you can't even soak it up. After the San Diego final, myself, Marta Kostyuk, and Alex drove to Indian Wells to get ready to play a day later. But those weeks push you on, give you the confidence that you can get things done. So it's really nice, especially with my team, to remind ourselves of the great work we've done."
That said, she is determined to step up in 2025. "My aim is to improve my ranking. I'm not looking at a small spectrum. I need to beat the best tennis players in the world, who are top 10. I have to aim extremely high if that's what I want. Big things." She doesn't want to put a number on her goals but "prioritising bigger events" is one of her main objectives. She is yet to go beyond the third round at a grand slam, and one senses that breakthrough is what Boulter craves.
The 2025 season begins this month in Australia. Boulter will fly out early to spend Christmas at De Minaur's Sydney home for the first time, before potentially facing his Australia team in the United Cup. The Australian Open will be the first test of her individual goals in the new year. "I will be striving for a lot higher; we as a team have to be ambitious. I think that's what urges me on. I want to go all in, put all my chips in."
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
