After the joy of watching a big name on the biggest stage and having the courage to call out her best when the moment called for it, Katie Boulter arrived for another day on Court No. 2 with the most nerve-wracking situation a tennis player can do navigation: option.
Neither Boulter nor Harmony Tan had ever reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament before, and only three rankings separated them, No. 118 and No. 115. They had usurped Karolina Pliskova and Serena Williams in the Center Court booms, but they stood here in a match that would not have looked out of place at a low-level ITF event, but which was in the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament with £190,000 on the line.
In the end, Boulter never stood a chance. Her Wimbledon breakthrough ended in brutal fashion as Tan cleverly blunted her weapons and exposed her weaknesses, and with a superb performance the French continued her dream tournament by gutting Boulter 6-1, 6-1 to reach the second week of the grand slam tournament for the first time.
The All England Club’s decision not to stage this match on one of the two best courts drew criticism from some quarters, but in typical form for these championships, the match started with empty seats on the third-largest court of the tournament.
Fortune did not shine for Boulter early on and her opening service game set the tone. First she broke the string on a routine forehand, then on the next point, Tan’s volley clipped the net and dribbled home a winner. On break point, Boulter let in a lob that he thought was flying, but it landed well inside the baseline. She was struggling to find a rhythm, spraying backhands, making hasty decisions.
But the defining moment of the match was how her opponent took the level of the first round against Williams and only continued to grow. From the start, Tan was sublime and she played at a consistently high level throughout. She swung all the variety that had driven Williams crazy, making Boulter uncomfortable by forcing her to move, her backhand slice sliding low and she glided to the net with ease. As she refused to allow Boulter two shots of the same type, she was entirely the cause of her opponent’s lack of rhythm.
Katie Boulter failed to hit a volley during her loss to Harmony Tan. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Observer
But unlike the match against Williams, when she sliced every other forehand, Tan asserted herself much more. She pushed Boulter with her forehand, revealing her movement and hitting winners. She was throwing passing shots at Boulter with ease. Tan even served well, usually an obvious weakness, finishing the set with three aces in the game. The constant pressure, point after point, forced Boulter to take more risks and make more mistakes. Tan finished with 16 winners and just five unforced errors, a near flawless performance.
Thursday’s win over Pliskova was a reflection of Boulter’s talent, the weapons at her disposal, but it was a reminder, beyond her injury history, of her limitations. Tasked with pacing the ball on her own, unlike Pliskova’s first-hand tennis, and solving problems against a complex opponent competing at an extremely high level, Boulter looked out of ideas before the end of the first set.
A quick guide
How do I sign up for breaking sports news alerts?
show
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or from the Google Play Store on Android phones by searching for “The Guardian”.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re using the latest version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the yellow button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sports notifications.
Thank you for your feedback.
While Boulter’s attempts to energize and engage the crowd on Court No. 2 failed, Tan took the decisive break for 6-1, 4-1 in spectacular fashion: she took Boulter’s first forehand, followed up with a drop shot and then a lob. she then hit a hard tweener and finished the point by backhanding past a helpless Boulter at the net. Her hopes dashed, Boulter double-faulted for match point to end a miserable day on court.
Add Comment