Nottingham Open 2023 results: Katie Boulter beats Jodie Burrage to win first WTA title
- Published
- comments
Boulter wins first WTA title
Katie Boulter won her first WTA title with a dominant victory in Nottingham over Jodie Burrage in the first all-British tour-level final in 46 years.
The British women's number one ranking was also on the line as Boulter outplayed her good friend 6-3 6-3.
"I'm definitely going to be sleeping with this trophy tonight," Boulter said in her on-court interview.
Earlier, Andy Murray won the men's event as Britons find form on grass before next month's Wimbledon.
Boulter and Burrage were contesting the first all-British WTA final since Sue Barker beat Virginia Wade in San Francisco on 28 February 1977.
Both players were also appearing in their first WTA finals after excellent performances in Nottingham this week but it was Boulter who took control from the start.
Katie Boulter (right) became British number one last week and would have lost top spot to Jodie Burrage if Burrage had won the final
The day's order of play had been changed because of the forecast of rain, and with dark clouds hanging heavy, Boulter stormed into a 5-1 lead with a double break in the opening set.
But she then failed to serve it out at the first opportunity as Burrage's forehand clicked. That was the only blip for the 26-year-old though as she immediately broke back to seal the set.
She barely paused for breath at the start of the second, taking the first two games to love and faced her only real challenge at 3-1 when she had to fend off break point with a stunning backhand winner.
Boulter delivered her first ace of the match when she was serving for victory but she missed her first match point when she sent a backhand narrowly wide - Burrage's puff of the cheeks a big indication of just how close that had been. But she was soon celebrating victory when 24-year-old Burrage sent a forehand long.
The pair shared a warm hug at the net and then sat next to each other chatting and laughing while they waited for the trophy presentation at the end of a memorable week for both of them.
"I dreamed of this moment, to win this tournament, as a little girl when I was four years old," said an emotional Boulter, who considers this her home tournament after growing up in Leicester.
"Having come here as a fan and now as a player and somehow finding a way to win it means more than everything to me."
Boulter, who took over as British number one from the injured Emma Raducanu last week, is now set to rise into the world's top 80 on Monday for the first time in a career that has been disrupted by injuries over the years.
Positive response after criticism
The home success at the British grass-court tournaments this year has come just a few weeks after criticism of the state of tennis in the country when no British women appeared in the main draw of the singles at the French Open and only three men did.
British player Dan Evans had suggested that Raducanu's 2021 US Open victory had "papered over the cracks" in British tennis.
Less than four weeks after those comments, Murray has won back-to-back tournaments here and at Surbiton last week, while three of the women's semi-finalists at Nottingham were British.
There were also Britons in the women's doubles final, where Heather Watson and Harriet Dart lost to Norway's Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia's Ingrid Neel, while on Saturday Jacob Fearnley and Johannus Monday won an all-British men's doubles final against Liam Broady and Jonny O'Mara.
There are far stronger fields at some of the next grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon at Eastbourne, Queen's and Birmingham but there will also be a new sense of confidence among some of the Britons who have enjoyed their best tournaments, including Boulter and Burrage.
Burrage said it had been "such a positive week" and that she had proven "a lot of things" to herself, while Boulter added: "I've played so many British players, we appreciate an all-British final and what an incredible achievement it is.
"I don't doubt we [Burrage and I] will be back here playing more finals."