LONDON (Reuters) – British wildcard Katie Boulter sent last year’s runner-up Karolina Pliskova crashing out of Wimbledon with a shock 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 win on Centre Court on Thursday.
Boulter, ranked 118th in the world, beat Pliskova last week at Eastbourne and was too resolute for the powerful Czech again as she battled back from losing the first set.
After the bitter home disappointment of the previous day when Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray both bowed out on Centre Court, Boulter gave the fans something to cheer.
She refused to be overpowered by the sixth seed and seized her chance by breaking serve at 4-4 in the deciding set.
Boulter, 25, stayed remarkably cool as she finished the match off in style with a volley to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career.
She joined fellow Briton Heather Watson who also reached the third round earlier by beating China’s Wang Qiang in a match that was interrupted by bad light the previous evening.
Harriet Dart was hoping to make it three British women into the third round as she took on American eighth seed Jessica Pegula on Thursday.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
