HSBC Championships 2026: Katie Boulter stuns world No.2 Elena Rybakina to reach semi-finals
• 3 minute read
Katie Boulter sealed the biggest win of her career against world No.2 Elena Rybakina to advance to the semi-finals of the HSBC Championships.
In her second outing of the day, Boulter played one of the matches of her life to knock out two-time Grand Slam champion and top seed Rybakina 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
It’s the best win by a British woman since Johanna Konta defeated Simona Halep at Wimbledon in 2017.
The second top-five win of her career sees Boulter into the semi-finals of the HSBC Championships for the first time, where she will meet Croatian lucky loser Donna Vekic.
The British crowd erupted as Rybakina planted a backhand into the net on Boulter’s first match point, and the world No.73 was overjoyed in her post-match interview.
“I’m not sure what to say, but this win really goes to the crowd who got me through it tonight,” she said, speaking on-court.
“That was absolutely incredible. I just tried to tell myself to keep backing myself and go for it. If you don’t, then you’ll regret the things you don’t go for. I’m standing here as a winner, and it’s because I trusted my game, trusted my coaching team. I’m so proud of today.
“I’ve watched the men play here for many, many years, and to get the opportunity as a woman to come back here was super special. It’s my first semi-final here, it’s a special one, but I’m always wanting more, so I’m going to keep pushing.”
Three key stats
- Impressive forehand - Boulter's quality of forehand increased as the match went on, from 6.3 in set one to 8.8/10 in the decider
- Increasing the speed - Boulter's average forehand speed hit 76mph in the third set vs a tour average 70mph
- Forehand winners - in the final set alone, Boulter racked up an impressive nine forehand winners
Boulter wrapped up a quick 6-1, 6-3 victory over Jaqueline Cristian earlier in the day before returning in the afternoon to face the world No.2.
It was a stubborn performance from Boulter in the opening set, refusing to let the Kazakh steal a march in their quarter-final clash.
The British No.3 saved nine break points on her first three service games and waited patiently for her chance to come.
Boulter rarely had an opportunity on Rybakina’s serve, but at 5-5 the former Wimbledon champion had her first shaky game of the match. On the Brit's second break point, she hit her second double fault of the game to hand Boulter a gift of a lead.
In a competitive final game, Boulter eventually got over the line on her third set point after Rybakina dragged a backhand wide.
The two-time Nottingham champion was then made to pay for her missed opportunities in the second set. The Brit failed to convert on two break points in the opening few games before Rybakina went on to take a 4-1 lead before clinching the set.
As they fought on late into the evening and a deciding third set, there was nothing to split between them, but Boulter saved her best until last.
At 4-4, she played a near-flawless game against the Rybakina serve, hitting three winners and forcing Rybakina into a backhand error to give herself the chance to serve for the match.
With the chance at an historic win, Boulter didn’t waver, seeing out the victory on her first match point.
Emma Raducanu will play her quarter-final against Kamilla Rakhimova tomorrow.
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