Katie Swan through to Surbiton Trophy final but Katie Boulter misses out
- Planet Sport writer
- 10 June 2023
There were mixed fortunes for British duo Katie Swan and Katie Boulter at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy in England on Saturday.
Katie Swan secured her place in the final of the Lexus Surbiton Trophy, but Katie Boulter's hopes of an all-British showdown were ended by defeat to veteran Belgian Yanina Wickmayer.
For the first time in the tournament's history, Great Britain had three women's players through to the semi-finals.
Swan was in determined mood for Saturday's opening match on Centre Court as she completed an impressive 6-1 6-0 victory over British number seven Lily Miyazaki in just over an hour.
The 24-year-old, who had knocked out first seed Tatjana Maria in the last round, built on an early break to swiftly open up a 5-0 lead before closing out the opening set.
It remained one-way traffic in the second as Swan kept the pressure on Miyazaki's serve with three straight breaks.
Miyazaki looked like she would break back in the sixth game, but Swan - who can secure the British number one spot by going on to win the title - twice recovered to level at deuce before clinching the match when a return went into the net.
"Today was probably one of the best matches I've played in my career - it was near perfect," Swan said in her court-side interview broadcast by the LTA.
"I am really happy that I was able to produce that and I can't wait to play in the final tomorrow."
Boulter was in pole position to go on and cement her place as British number one, but Wickmayer proved too strong as the 33-year-old closed out a 6-3 6-2 win.
The opening set remained on serve with no break opportunities until the eighth game when Wickmayer capitalised on some wayward returns from Boulter to take a decisive lead and then close things out 6-3.
Boulter made an important hold in the first game of the second set, but the Belgian kept the pressure on to break in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead as another return from the Briton flew wide.
Wickmayer - who won the doubles title with Sophie Chang on Friday - held and then battled back from 15-40 down to break Boulter again in the seventh game.
Although Boulter saved one match point, it was only delaying the inevitable as a return into the net saw Wickmayer progress to Sunday's final against Swan.
"I am really enjoying my time on the grass, so am really happy to have gotten a lot of matches this week," Wickmayer said following her win.
"I am really happy to be in another final here and just going to enjoy one more."
