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Boulter was the emerging and exciting talent in the British women’s game, but had to rebuild her career after it was heavily interrupted by injury problems.
In 2019, the Leicester-born player reached a career-high 82nd in the rankings and was on an upward trajectory before she was injured playing for Britain in a Fed Cup tie against Kazakhstan in April.
A stress fracture of the back sidelined her for six months – which she described as an “extremely difficult” period – and led to a long period outside of the world’s top 100.
In 2022, Boulter earned the biggest match win of her career by beating former world number one Karolina Pliskova on Centre Court at Wimbledon and has continued to create memorable moments over the past year.
Winning her first WTA title at the Nottingham Open last summer lifted Boulter back into the world’s top 100 and has been the catalyst for further success.
She went on to reach the last 32 again at Wimbledon, then reached the same stage of the US Open – the final major of the 2023 season – for the first time.
After losing to Peyton Stearns in the US Open third round, Boulter spoke about how she realised it was her “moment to push on”.
Last year’s Wimbledon exit against defending champion Elena Rybakina was one of several one-sided defeats against the very best, but she finally earned a victory against a top-five opponent by beating American Jessica Pegula at the United Cup in January.
In San Diego, all of her victories came against players ranked above her in the top 40.
After winning the title, Boulter said: “This week has been very, very special for so many different reasons. This one is pretty amazing, I’ve worked very hard for it.”
