As Katie Boulter closed out her 2023 season last November, she reflected with satisfaction on her best season to date. Having spent significant periods of her career struggling with injuries on the sidelines, she was finally able to steadily build her form week by week. She took her opportunities without hesitation, winning her first WTA title in Nottingham and establishing herself inside the world’s top 100.
Still, her contentment came with some caution. She now had the considerable challenge of defending those points and maintaining her position at the top level of the sport in the following season: “I know it’s an uphill battle next year,” she said.
It is fair to say that Boulter has navigated this steeper incline well. On Tuesday, the 28-year-old began her final individual tournament of the year with a solid 6-4, 6-4 win over Aoi Ito of Japan in Hong Kong, where she is hoping to end her season on a positive note after continuing to rise from her 2023 year-end ranking of No 58. She has elevated her game to new heights, acquiring seeding at the biggest events and gaining respect among the best players in the world. Boulter currently sits at No 29 in the rankings, just two spots below the career-high singles ranking of 27 she achieved in March.
This improvement was spearheaded by her spectacular performance in San Diego, where Boulter performed at the best level of her career, defeating four consecutive seeds – Beatriz Haddad Maia, Donna Vekic, Emma Navarro and Marta Kostyuk – en route to winning her first WTA 500 title. All four of those opponents are now top 20 players, further emphasising the quality of her performances. Her title defence at the Nottingham Open, where she won her third career WTA tournament despite being far from her best form, was also impressive in its own way.
Many things have not come easily for Boulter this year. She has struggled in the second half of the season, particularly after her excellent grass court season ended with a dramatic, disappointing second-round loss at Wimbledon to Harriet Dart. After her brief return to red clay for the Olympics, Boulter failed to string wins together, compiling a 6-8 win-lose record between July and mid-October without winning consecutive completed matches.
When in full flow, Boulter is a clean, smooth ball-striker with easy power and, between her potent first serve and forehand, she possesses weapons that can devastate so many of the best defences on the tour. But Boulter’s game can also be too rigid and linear, and despite improvements, her movement and defence can be liabilities at the highest level. Boulter’s serve can also be volatile.
Despite being seeded at grand slam events for the first time in her career, she was unable to clear the second round of a major this year, struggling to take advantage of the benefits that come with avoiding top players in the early rounds of the grand slam tournaments.
After a career filled with so many injuries and setbacks, though, it is impressive enough to see Boulter out there each week around the world, grinding on the tour with ambition and drive, her motivation undimmed. Her first full year on the WTA tour has been a particularly taxing one, particularly with the Olympics complicating the scheduling between Wimbledon and the US Open. This week marks her 23rd tournament of the season, a significant count for any player.
Now Boulter will try to end things on an appropriately high note. Last week, she broke free of her poor run of form, reaching the semi-finals of the Tokyo WTA 500 event with three efficient straight sets wins over lower-ranked opponents, including a 6-1, 6-3 hammering of the former US Open winner Bianca Andreescu. She eventually fell to another fallen former grand slam champion, Sofia Kenin.
In Hong Kong, a tricky second-round opponent awaits the second seed, Boulter in Wang Xiyu of China. After she finishes her business in Asia, all eyes will turn to the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Málaga, where Boulter will close out a significant year as the undisputed leader of British women’s tennis in 2024.
