Katie Boulter denied upset over Jasmine Paolini in Merida Open quarter-finals
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Katie Boulter narrowly missed out on what would have been one of the biggest wins of her career as she bowed out to world No.7 Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals of the Merida Open.
Boulter made an electric start against the two-time Grand Slam runner-up but eventually lost to the top seed 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 55 minutes.
"It was a really tough one for Katie, the first set she was smashing every ball and hitting a winner everywhere," Paolini said in her post-match interview.
"I was telling myself to play more deep in the court and hit the ball harder because I had to raise the level to try and win the match and in the end it worked out.”
The loss brings an end to Boulter’s run of seven consecutive victories, going back to her title run at the Ostrava Open.
Earlier in the week she knocked out former top 10 star Beatriz Haddad Maia and Colombia's Camila Osorio.
The 29-year-old started the match high in confidence and took the challenge to last year’s WTA 1000 Rome and Billie Jean King Cup champion.
The British star raced through the opening set in 28 minutes, winning all but three points on the Italian’s serve.
Everything looked to be going Boulter’s way and the Briton had two break points to steal a march in the third game of the second set.
However, after coming through with a hold, Paolini then turned the match on it’s head with a break of her own to lead 3-1.
Both players struggled with serve throughout the rest of the set, but after a run of five straight breaks, Paolini kept her nerve to level the match with only her third hold of the day.
The longer the match went on, Boulter’s errors became more and more costly. She showed great fight to battle back from 2-0 down in the decider but back-to-back breaks at 3-3 wrapped up the match for the top seed.
Boulter will now turn her attention to the sunshine swing in Indian Wells and Miami. The Brit is currently scheduled to play qualifying in Indian Wells but has direct entry for the Miami Open.
