Katie Boulter fires Great Britain past Germany in the Billie Jean King Cup
By MATTHEW LAMBWELL
Katie Boulter belatedly found her range to fire Great Britain to victory over Germany in the Billie Jean King Cup.
After debutant Sonay Kartal had put GB 1-0 up in the tie, Boulter beat Tatjana Maria 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. Regardless of the result of the double rubber the maths is now simple: Saturday’s tie between hosts the Netherlands and Britain is a winner take all for a trip to Shenzhen for the finals in September.
The first set was an ugly watch and when Boulter went a break down in the second she looked en route to a third consecutive defeat of a miserable season. But the 28-year-old declared this week she has made it her mission to win Britain’s first ever Billie Jean King Cup and she found a way to turn the match around.
Clay is by a distance her weakest surface so this was never likely to be straightforward, even against the 37-year-old world No80.
Boulter had beaten Maria in all three of their previous meetings but the German’s quirky style - with lots of slices off both wings - is perfectly calculated to disturb the Brit’s natural free-swinging game.
Her serve was breached early and then she double faulted twice in one game to go a double break down.
Katie Boulter recovered from losing the opening set to win her Billie Jean King Cup match
Boulter had a horror start but had enough to get past Tatjana Maria in the end
Boulter posed for pictures with fans after getting Great Britain off to a winning start
The second set was much better, with Boulter realising she had to come forward to finish points at the net, rather than letting Maria chip away ad infinitum. She also used the drop shot much more against a deep-lying opponent.
From 3-2 down she won four games in a row to force a decider. In the first game of that third set Boulter hit three consecutive return winners to break to love and from there she coasted home.
'It was a really tough match, especially as it's my first match on clay, against someone who's such a good player and very quirky, never easy to play against her,' said Boulter. 'I'm really pleased with the way I came back today and found a way and actually played some really good stuff in the second and third. I'm very proud of myself today.'
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