Katie Boulter claimed her first WTA Tour-level semi-final victory with a 6-3 7-5 win, but Harriet Dart seemed bothered by something when they shook hands.
Dart seemed to criticize Boulter’s professionalism, to which Boulter retorted, “I do it every single match, mate. It’s nothing personal”.
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In her post-match interview, Boulter expressed, “ It was a tough fight out there. You could see how much it meant to me to win that match”.
“It’s awful playing a friend but I tried to play the ball and not the player. Today it was my day.”
Boulter was joined in the semi-finals by British No 3 Jodie Burrage, another debutant in the last four, after coming through a tight match against Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
The 24-year-old won five games in a row to take the first set, finishing it off with an ace.
But she looked up against it after requiring a medical time-out on her way to dropping the second and fell a breakdown early in the third.
However, Burrage broke straight back and went on to clinch a 6-2 3-6 7-5 victory in two hours and 21 minutes.”I’m absolutely knackered now,” she said on the court.
“I wish I could stop playing three-set matches, but if it gets me the win, then I’ve got to grind through it.”
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Burrage continued: “It was a really tough match. I am feeling it a little bit and in the second set, I was thinking too much about that and not about the tennis. Then I picked it up in the third set.
“This week has given me so much confidence. To come out and make my first semi-final in a WTA event, the confidence it gives me is massive and I will take it through to the next tournaments.”
The post Nottingham Open: Katie Boulter Defeats Harriet Dart In Fiery All-British Clash appeared first on SurgeZirc UK.
