San Diego Open: Katie Boulter cruises past Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko
- Published
Boulter had lost all three of her previous meetings with Tsurenko
British number one Katie Boulter cruised past Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets at the San Diego Open.
The 27-year-old beat world number 36 Tsurenko 6-3 6-1 in one hour and 10 minutes on her tournament debut.
Boulter is ranked 49 in the world but the result means she could rise to a career-high 43 when the next rankings are released.
She will face 13th-ranked Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round.
Boulter has not played since January when she missed out on a place in the quarter-final of the Linz Open in Austria, but against Tsurenko, who withdrew from her past two matches because of an elbow injury, she was dominant.
After trading breaks early on in the opener, Boulter secured a double break to take the set.
She then recovered from an early break of serve in the second to comfortably win the next six games without facing a break point.
"I know how tough she can be to play against," said Boulter after the win. "I knew today would be an absolute battle. I don't think either of us played our best tennis but it's about finding a way and I did that today."