Britain’s number one Katie Boulter extended her winning run to a fifth WTA Tour quarter-final in the season with a dominant victory over Japan’s Kyoka Okamura in Tokyo. The 28-year-old Boulter, who has been rated at 33rd in the world, saw off the 271st Okamura 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 13 minutes at Ariake Arena. More fortunate for Boulter, Okamura qualified for the main draw as a lucky loser after losing a qualifying match.
As for playing super-consistent on the tennis court and showing great power to conquer her opponent throughout the match, Boulter seemed to be in perfect form. She said after she secured her win: “I feel like I’m playing some good tennis and trying to get through these matches.” This is Boulter’s first quarterfinal since June at the Eastbourne tournament. She seeks to end the season with two WTA titles already on her account.
Another test for Boulter will be against the Canadian wildcard Bianca Andreescu, the former US Open champion who has her share of injuries. Boulter praises the fighting spirit of Andreescu: “Bianca is an incredible fighter, won a Grand Slam and is playing some good tennis.” Therefore, having nothing to lose in terms of ranking points this week, Boulter describes the match as an opportunity at the end of the year: “It’s a free swing for me at the end of the year.”
She is seeded at nine for the WTA 500 event in Tokyo and scheduled to face some of the stronger challenges, including China’s Zheng Qinwen, Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, Diana Shnaider and Leylah Fernandez from Canada.
