Katie Boulter reveals the key reason why she was able to defeat Elena Rybakina at Queen’s
Katie Boulter picked up one of the biggest victories of her career by knocking Elena Rybakina out of the quarter-final of Queen’s.
The British No. 2 often comes to life during grass court season and Queen’s has been no different, with the star picking up two victories in one day.
Boulter eased past Jaqueline Cristian in straight sets in her round of 16 match, before stunning the Australian Open champion in three sets on Andy Murray Arena.
She won 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 to earn just her fifth victory over a top 10 player and her first since she beat Paula Badosa at Wimbledon last year. This is just the second victory over a top 5 player, following her United Cup triumph against Jessica Pegula in 2024.
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Speaking on-court after her win, Boulter said: “Honestly, I’m not really sure what to say, but I really feel like this win definitely goes towards the crowd that got me through it tonight and stayed out here. The atmosphere was absolutely incredible.
“I just tried to tell myself to keep backing myself and go for it. If you don’t go for it, then you’re going to regret the things that you’ve worked so hard for.
“I’m standing here a winner, and it’s because I trusted my game, I trusted my coaching team, who were always with me and pushing me. So yeah, I’m so proud of today.”
Later on during her post-match press conference, Boulter said Rybakina’s win over her at Wimbledon 2023 was still lingering in her mind during their Queen’s match.
“I think my goal today was to play better than I did last time in Wimbledon,” she explained. “I felt like I really let the occasion get to me that time, and I wanted to prove to myself and also to other people that I’m a better tennis player than that match.
“That one scarred me a little bit, and I wanted to come out today and prove that I can swing and I can just go for it, because I didn’t let myself go for it in the last one.”
Rybakina defeated Boulter 6-1 6-1 at Wimbledon in 2023, but that will likely be forgotten following the British star’s memorable win at Queen’s.
She had comprehensively lost her only other match to Rybakina too, which came at Indian Wells in 2025.
Boulter will play Donna Vekic in the semi-finals of Queen’s. The Croatian entered the tournament as a lucky loser, but she has dropped just one set en route to the final four.
Vekic has toppled Karolina Pliskova, Marie Bouzková, and Mika Stojsavljevic in the main draw to reach her second WTA 500 semi-final of the season.
