British number one Katie Boulter came from a set down to secure a place in the third round of the US Open for the first time.
The 27-year-old matched her run at Wimbledon this summer after a gutsy 5-7 6-1 6-4 victory over China’s in-form Wang Yafan.
Wang was on an 11-match winning streak, including beating seventh seed Caroline Garcia in the first round, but she was outlasted by Boulter in the New York heat.
Fighting into the #USOpen 3rd round for the 1st time 💪@katiecboulter battles back for a big 𝗪𝗜𝗡 in New York#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/IW0k01qZOh
— LTA (@the_LTA) August 31, 2023
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In a tight first set, Boulter retrieved an early break, was given a warning for angrily swatting the ball away and had three set points on the Wang serve.
But she was unable to convert any of them and Wang promptly broke to wrap up the set.
However Boulter, from Leicester, cleared her head impressively and dominated the second set to level the match.
Having broken again for 5-4 in the decider she suffered a horrible wobble, throwing in two double faults in the first three points.
But once again Boulter recovered her composure and wrapped up a fine win when Wang hit the net.
She said: “I am super happy with today – very, very proud of myself. I had to dig really deep.
“I had a few set points in the first set which I wasn’t able to convert. She played some really good tennis and I had to really battle and go for it at the same time.
“Credit to her. She is a great player and doesn’t make it easy. I managed to get over the line so I am extremely happy.”
Boulter will face 21-year-old American Peyton Stearns, the world number 59, in what looks a very favourable draw, for a place in the last 16.
