Inside story on Katie Boulter’s stunning rise as she claims a huge rankings breakthrough

The road to the top has been laced with challenges for British No 1 Katie Boulter, but that makes the success she is enjoying now all the more special.

The 27-year-old came from behind to claim the WTA 500 San Diego Open title with a 5-7 6-2 6-2 win over Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk and earn a second career title and her highest-profile win yet.

Injuries, setbacks, dips in form and confidence and coaching changes have all been part of the story on Boulter’s road to the top 30 of the WTA ranking for the first time in her career and there is potential for so much more after he sparkling display in San Diego.

Her big-hitting ground strokes have always been the eye-catching part of her game, but it is the improvements in her serve and consistency that have now taken her up several levels since she won her first WTA Tour title on home soil in Nottingham last June.

“This week has been very, very special for so many different reasons,” said Boulter after her win in America.

“This one is pretty amazing, I’ve worked very hard for it, I played some incredible tennis all week.

“Today was a complete battle, with myself as well because I was a little bit nervous. But I managed to get over the line and that I’m very proud of.

“A lot of it was about me staying as tough as I possibly could mentally and I managed to keep my cool and actually kind of went within myself and calmed myself down a lot.

“I think that really helped me and then I started to relax and play through shots a little bit more.”

READ MORE: WATCH: Couple goals achieved as Katie Boulter ’embarrasses’ boyfriend Alex de Minaur after superb title win

So who is Katie Boulter and is she now ready to challenge the biggest names in the game over the course of 2024?

It’s too soon to assess whether she could be a contender to get deep into the second week of major championships, but there is no doubt she has made huge strides forward in the last 12 months.

She was ranked at No 151 this time last year and for many years, she has relied on wildcards from the LTA in the UK to get into major events and boost her ranking.

Her impressive wins in grass court events highlighted her potential, but sustained success away from the UK was hard to come by for Boulter until now.

Coached by former British No 1 Jeremy Bates for many years, that role has now been filled by former professional tennis player Biljana Veselinovic, who works with the LTA in London.

The support of the governing body of British tennis has been crucial to Boulter’s success as they continued to back her when she was struggling to make her breakthrough into the top 100 of the WTA rankings and now the rewards are flowing in spectacular fashion.

Former British No 1 Laura Robson is a big admirer of Boulter and she was joyous as she reflected on the biggest win for a British player since Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open triumph.

“It was so good,” Robson told Sky Sports News as she reflected on Boulter’s success in San Diego.

“I was talking to her before the match and she was just excited to go out there and play. When you have that energy going into a final, the nerves aren’t kicking in yet, she was thinking about the tactical part of it.

“I think it was a great match-up for her against Marta Kostyuk because she gets so much power, so she knew going into it she was going to have a great chance. But to actually do it in a tough three-setter and just over two hours after what’s been quite a long week for her beating other top-20 players in [Beatriz] Haddad Maia and [Donna] Vekic has been fantastic.

“It’s been slow and steady progress which I think has been the biggest change because it doesn’t feel overwhelming in the moment when you have these big wins,” she said.

“She started the year really well by beating Jessica Pegula in one of her first matches. You’re thinking ‘wow’ she’s really hitting it big but she’s been playing really consistent tennis and she’s really improved her movement so much.

“I think a lot of people kind of didn’t expect her to miss the Middle Eastern swing in Doha and Dubai because she knew she wanted quite a big training block going into these American tournaments and what a difference it’s made!

“Physically, she’s looking stronger than ever, so for me not a surprise at all actually.

“She’s cracked the top 30 this week and I feel like the sky’s the limit really because it’s been slow and steady progress. It doesn’t feel like top 20 is out of the question,” added Robson.

“She doesn’t have a lot to defend until around the grass season in the summer so she’ll be thinking ‘what tournaments can I play by creating a smart schedule for myself to pick up some good wins?’.

“She’s got a couple of days off before the first round in Indian Wells so she will be physically really fresh and she doesn’t have anything to defend, so she’s probably thinking top 20 already.

“Last year she was playing Australian Open qualifying and trying to get back inside the top 100, which felt a long way off, but suddenly we’re already there.”

Boulter has probably already exceeded her expectations after stating her goal for 2024 was to try and break into the world’s top 30 by the end of the year.

With limited ranking points to defend over the next couple of months, this story could continue to gather momentum and by the time she gets to Wimbledon this summer, Boulter could be a top 20 player with huge hype and expectations building around her in her home Slam.

British No.1 players since 1975

Virginia Wade
Sue Barker
Jo Durie
Annabel Croft
Anne Hobbs
Sara Gomer
Monique Javer
Sarah Loosemore
Clare Wood
Lizzie Jelfs
Rachel Viollet
Sam Smith
Louise Latimer
Julie Pullin
Lucie Ahl
Elena Baltacha
Anne Keothavong
Katie O’Brien
Heather Watson
Laura Robson
Johanna Konta
Emma Raducanu
Katie Boulter (from 12 June 2023)