Before her bounteous grass-court summer began, Katie Boulter had not beaten a single top 40 player in her life. Her total record against top 50 opposition was 4-14, not where a player with such high aspirations would like to be, and she was yet to truly fly in the biggest moments. But still, some believed that Boulter would come to enjoy the bigger occasions and thrive in the face of the toughest challenges.
On the biggest stage of all, Centre Court, Boulter’s reputation accorded with reality in spectacular fashion as she produced the biggest win of her career to upset Karolina Pliskova, the sixth seed and last year’s finalist, reaching a grand slam third round for the first time in her career with a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 win.
