Nottingham Open: Boulter wins maiden title in historic all-British final

Wildcard Katie Boulter defeated Jodie Burrage 6-3, 6-3 to lift the Nottingham Open trophy at Nottingham Tennis Centre on Sunday.

This is her first singles title on tour. It comes after years of struggling with a serious back injury, incurred shortly after achieving her career-high ranking of world No 82, and some smaller but persistent troubles too.

Now it looks like she’s fully fit just in time for Wimbledon, where she reached the third round last year. She admitted on social media last week that she had been inclined to ignore the fact that she is now the British No 1 as her overall ranking is lower than it was at her peak – but decided that she ought to mark the occasion for the sake of the little girl she used to be, who would have been thrilled by the knowledge.

pic.twitter.com/8y1s7KCE6m

— Katie Boulter (@katiecboulter) June 12, 2023

She will, however, now rise to a new career-high ranking, expected to be world No 77, and extends her record over fellow British players to 5-0.

This match was the first all-British WTA singles final since San Francisco in 1977, when Sue Barker beat Virginia Wade 6-3, 6-4.

Boulter: I’m going to be sleeping with this trophy tonight

“I’m definitely going to be sleeping with this trophy tonight!” said an ecstatic Boulter, who was born in nearby Leicestershire. “I’ve dreamt of this moment at this tournament since I was a little girl training here when I was four, five years old.”

“Boults played absolutely incredible, didn’t let me play at all,” said Burrage afterwards.

Boulter, ranked No 126, beat qualifier Emily Appleton (6-1, 6-3), Ukrainian lucky loser Daria Snigur (7-5, 6-3), qualifier Harriet Dart (6-3, 7-5) and qualifier Heather Watson (6-4, 7-5) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous rounds of the Nottingham tournament, Burrage, ranked No 131, beat Czech Tereza Martincova (7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (4)), Pole Magda Linette, the No 3 seed (7-5, 6-3), Pole Magdalena Frech (6-2, 3-6, 7-5) and Frenchwoman Alize Cornet (7-5, 7-5).

Read also

Two titles in two weeks for Andy Murray, wins Nottingham Challenger – and is surprised by his kids

Tennis Majors