Leicester's Katie Boulter out of Australian Open Tennis

She won't be progressing to the third round

Author: leanor Crooks, PAPublished 16th Jan 2025

Katie Boulter's hopes of a strong Australian Open run ended in disappointing fashion with a second-round loss to Veronika Kudermetova.

Seeded for the first time at Melbourne Park, the 28-year-old from Leicester looked to have a good chance of breaking new ground and reaching the second week of a grand slam.

But, having survived a nail-biter in the first round against Rebecca Marino, she could not repeat the feat against Kudermetova, falling to a 7-6 (3) 2-6 6-2 defeat.

Kudermetova has slipped to 75 in the rankings after a poor year but she is a former top-10 player and caught Boulter cold on a chilly Melbourne evening.

The British number one won only one of the first six games but then mounted a comeback, saving three set points at 5-2 in a run of four games in a row.

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