Katie Boulter crashes back to earth after brutal call by Indian Wells tennis officials
The British superstar will feel hard done by at Indian Wells after the brutal development.
Katie Boulter will be devastated at Indian Wells after being eliminated in the first round after a brutal deadline rule meant she wasn't seeded for the 'fifth major'. Boulter has been in career-best tennis form recently having defeated Marta Kostyuk 5-7 6-2 6-2 in the San Diego Open final.
The British superstar jumped 22 positions to World No.27. Unfortunately, Boulter's ranking jump didn't come in time for the Indian Wells main card draw. She was World No.49 last week and the Indian Wells draw used the rankings from last week, which means Boulter's last WTA 500 win didn't count.
Instead of receiving a bye in the first round, which she would have as a top 32 seeded player, Boulter was drawn against Camila Giorgi in the first round. And in a shock update, Boulter was eliminated in straight sets to the Italian having struggled to follow up the form that saw her win the WTA 500 event earlier this week. This could have been due to backing up only 72 hours later from the San Diego Open final.
Boulter's result will be a bitter blow after travelling to Indian Wells with her Aussie boyfriend Alex de Minaur for the first tournament the duo have both competed in since the Australian Open. Earlier this week, the 27-year-old won her first WTA 500 event in front of Aussie partner de Minaur after he defended his Mexico Open title and made the trip to see the US to see her play.
Boulter is in career-best form and she jumped 22 positions to World No.27. While her ranking may drop after her first round elimination, a main card draw for Boulter was big. Last year, Boulter didn't make it out of qualifying for Indian Wells. Boulter will unfortunately lose 10 ranking points after the first round loss.
Alex de Minaur looks to make deep Indian Wells run
Boulter's partner, de Minaur, will also be looking to boost his ranking at Indian Wells. The Aussie was eliminated in the round of 64 last year, but having started 2024 with a 15-4 run, de Minaur will be looking to boost his ranking once again on the hard courts.
Having dropped back down to World No.10 after defending his title in Acapulco, de Minaur will be looking to climb a number of positions with a deep run. De Minaur has a bye first round and will either face Taro Daniel or Daniel Galan in the next round.
WTA used the rankings from last week so Katie Boulter isn't seeded. Gets Giorgi in R1, Noskova R2, Swiatek R3.
Many fun possible R2:
Kerber-Ostapenko
Collins-Swiatek
Wozniacki-Vekic
Jabeur-Andreeva
Venus-Kudermetova
Rybakina-Badosa
Yastremska-Raducanu
Cirstea-Stephens… https://t.co/aWLFNsdTfR— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 4, 2024
Katie Boulter thanks Alex de Minaur after triumph
Boulter had never reached a quarter-final of a WTA 500 event, but she went all the way to lift the biggest trophy of her career. The 27-year-old was all smiles after her victory and couldn't help but share some special praise for the World No.10 watching on in the stands.
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"I want to say a small, special, thank you to my boyfriend," Boulter said as the crowd cheered. "He finished last night at midnight and I really want to embarrass him. He got on a 4.15am taxi and a 6am flight to be here today. So I do appreciate it." Boulter was all smiles during the kind words, as was de Minaur, with the Aussie momentarily burying his head due to the praise.
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