Katie Boulter and Jack Draper closed off their spectacular performances in the past week by winning titles in Nottingham and Stuttgart respectively, marking the first time in 53 years that a British woman and man have won tour-level titles on the same day.
A few hours after recovering to defeat Emma Raducanu in a dramatic 3hr 13min battle, Boulter returned to successfully defend her Nottingham Open title with an excellent 4-6, 6-3 6-2 win against the former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova.
Earlier on Sunday, Draper took a significant step towards fulfilling his considerable potential as he beat Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to win his first ATP title at the Stuttgart Open in his third final. The last British man and woman to win titles on the same day were Roger Taylor and Ann Jones in 1971.
Boulter now has three WTA titles and two this year after winning her first WTA 500 event in San Diego in March. As in California, she also won a title on the same day as her boyfriend, Alex de Minaur, who eased past Sebastian Korda 6-2, 6-4 to win in ’s-Hertogenbosch without dropping a set all week.
With turbulent weather ravaging the Nottingham Open schedule throughout the week, Boulter was forced to go the hard way as she played five sets on Sunday, winning four of them. After trailing Raducanu by a set overnight, Boulter, the third seed, returned on Sunday determined to dictate most exchanges with her serve and forehand as she won 6-7 (13), 6-3, 6-4.
Against Pliskova, who herself played six sets on Sunday after reaching the final with a three-set win over Diane Parry, Boulter looked fatigued early on before forcing herself inside the baseline and dictating on her terms until the end.
One year on from her breakthrough run in Nottingham, where she won her first title as a wildcard ranked No 126, Boulter, 27, showed that she has established herself among the best players in the world and there will be no rapid fall out of the top 100 after the best year of her career. She will remain a threat throughout the grass court season and beyond.
Three weeks after a first‑round defeat at the French Open, Draper demonstrated his resilience and positive mindset by recovering with a week of supreme performances in his first week on grass. He had already been guaranteed to overtake Cameron Norrie and become the British No 1 for the first time, but the 22-year-old will now also reach a career‑high around No 31 in the rankings.
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“I’ve been doing all the right things for a long time now,” Draper said. “The results haven’t necessarily shown that. But I’ve been working so hard behind the scenes, doing all the right things on and off the court, and it’s testament to my perseverance and the amazing people I have around me, supporting me every single day. It means the world to me.
“The power of belief, especially in tennis, is a huge thing. Being able to come and win against top players, that’s so important. This win will give me a massive confidence boost and hopefully I can keep going and being really tough to beat and I can remember this for a long time.”
Source: theguardian.com
