Eastbourne Open: Paolini knocks out home hope Boulter to reach last four

Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No 3 seed, moved into the last four of the Eastbourne Open by beating Katie Boulter 6-1, 7-6 at Devonshire Park Lawn Club.

It marked the end of a promising grass-court run-up to Wimbledon for Britain’s No 1, after successfully defending her title at the Nottingham Open two weeks ago before another eye-catching run to the last eight here in Eastbourne.

For Paolini, this victory is something of a surprise after having not played for two weeks since reaching the final of Roland-Garros (bar seven games in her previous round before Mertens retired).

It is the Italian’s first completed grass-court victory for a player who has proved highly effective on both hard and clay courts this season but has yet to fully apply her game to the grass.

Today, she was in fine fettle as Boulter failed to find the same level she displayed in the previous two rounds and could not handle Paolini’s consistently deep hitting, especially in the first set.

After falling a break down in the second, the Briton fought well to gain parity before losing the second-set tiebreak 7-0 as her resistance came to an abrupt end.

She will next turn her attention to Wimbledon, where she will be seeded for the first time.

Paolini, meanwhile, continues her own preparation for the grass-court major with a semi-final berth in Eastbourne. She will play the winner of the match between Russian Daria Kasatkina, the No 6 seed, and wildcard Emma Raducanu next.

Ahead of her victory, the Italian benefited from the abandonment of Belgian Elise Mertens (5-2).

Boulter, ranked No 32, beat Croat lucky loser Petra Martic (6-1, 7-6 (8)) and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the No 5 seed (6-4, 7-5) earlier in the tournament.

Eastbourne WTA 500, other quarter-finals results (Devonshire Park Lawn Club, grass, USD 922.573, most recent results first):

• Madison Keys vs. Karolina Muchova
• Daria Kasatkina vs. Emma Raducanu
• Leylah Fernandez beat Harriet Dart (WC): 6-2, 6-1