Katie Swan misses out on British No 1 ranking after narrow defeat

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Katie Swan after a match
Katie Swan after a match

Yanina Wickmayer came out on top after a three-set battle with Katie Swan to win the Lexus Surbiton Trophy, resulting in Katie Boulter taking over as the new British No 1.

Wickmayer prevented Swan from securing the British No 1 spot after coming back from a set down to win 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) weeks before both players head to Wimbledon.

As a result, Boulter will become the new British women’s No 1 when the WTA Rankings are updated on Monday, replacing the injured Emma Raducanu as she is set to move to No 126 with Raducanu two places below, Jodie Burrage at No 131 and Swan at No 134.

Wickmayer and Swan were not deterred by the Surbiton heat as they battled at a high intensity with lengthy exchanges which resulted in Swan taking a 4-2 lead in the first set.

And Swan’s serve proved to be a decisive weapon early on as Wickmayer struggled to deal with the 24-year-old’s precision which allowed her to be on the front foot in exchanges before she closed out the first set 6-2.

But Wickmayer began to find her feet in the second set as she jostled into a 5-4 lead, with Swan finally beginning to falter at the hands of the 33-year-old.

And the Belgian made no mistake in drawing level after she forced errors out of eighth seed Swan to close out the second set 6-4.

Wickmayer really began to show her class in the final set with some moments of excellence which left her opponent with no answers.

This came in the form of her returns, with her decision to choose placement over power proving to be a masterstroke as she firmed her grip on the tie late on.

Swan managed to take the deciding set to a tie-break but came up short after Wickmayer stormed into a 6-1 lead before she rounded off the set to be crowned champion.

In a court-side interview broadcast by the LTA, Swan said: “I feel like it was a high-level match all the way through.

“It was tough because as soon as I dropped my levels slightly she was all over me and I had to maintain that for as long as I could. It was so tough but it was really high level overall.

“She is in unbelievable shape, I don’t know how she can be that good after having a baby. I think it’s incredible what she’s doing.”

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