British tennis star Katie Boulter made a heartbreaking admission after her ‘really tough’ exit from Wimbledon.
Boulter, 28, sealed a huge victory over ninth seed Paula Badosa in the first round at the All England Club and was handed a favourable draw against lucky loser Solana Sierra.
Boulter, ranked No. 43 in the world, took the first set against Sierra but won just three games over the next two as she crashed out to the world number 101.
Reaching the third round would have equalled her joint-best run at Wimbledon but instead Boulter suffered a defeat that she admitted was ‘really tough to swallow’.
The defeat even left Boulter, who is yet to reach the second week of a Grand Slam, wondering whether her ‘moment’ would ever come.
‘Not my best day,’ Boulter said in her press conference. ‘I think I’ve got a lot of things to go back and work on.
‘Of course it hurts. It’s a really tough pill to swallow. It always is here. Unfortunately that’s just the way it is.
‘Sometimes I just have to accept that my moment might not come at some point. I’m going to keep working hard and keep trying my hardest. Ultimately that’s all I can do and keep putting myself out there and keep improving every single year.
‘I understand that people have good expectations, and I have high expectations of myself as well.
‘I think you can look at a piece of paper and be like, “oh, that’s a terrible loss.” Ultimately, she played better than me on the day. That’s how it is.
On Sierra’s performance, Boulter added: ‘I don’t necessarily feel like I completely lost the match.
‘I think last year I probably sat here and said that I lost the match personally. This year I’m not going to sit here and say that. I think she played a good match.
‘I really felt like she played a great match. I felt like she committed to the ball. It was coming through very fast. I felt like I couldn’t quite control it.
‘So credit to her. She swung and she won the match. I’m happy for her. But I have to go back to the drawing board for myself.’
Which British players are still in Wimbledon?
Boulter’s exit means there are just two female British players left in the Wimbledon draw.
Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu will face Wimbledon favourite Aryna Sabalenka in the third round after an impressive straight-sets victory over 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova.
World number 389 Sonay Kartal, meanwhile, meets French qualifier Diane Parry for a place in the fourth round.
Jack Draper, ranked No. 4 in the world, represents Britain’s best hope on the men’s side of the draw and faces former Grand Slam champion Marin Cilic in the second round.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Cameron Norrie is already safely through to the third round, while Dan Evans will have to beat seven-time winner Novak Djokovic to join him.
Oliver Tarvet’s incredible Wimbledon run – which saw him qualify from a world ranking outside the top 700 – was ended by two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
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