HSBC Championships 2026: Katie Boulter fights back to knock out eighth seed Leylah Fernandez
• 3 minute read
Katie Boulter came back from a set down to upset eighth seed Leylah Fernandez in a first round match fought over two days.
Boulter returned on Tuesday trailing the 2021 US Open finalist by a set before claiming a 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 victory to reach the second round of the HSBC Championships.
The British star showed her nerve to see out her 12th career win over a top-25 opponent and book a place in the round of 16 for the second consecutive year.
“I’m really pleased with the way I came back after yesterday,” Boulter said. “I felt like I was a step slow yesterday and she was playing great.
“It’s hard to sleep at night when you know you’re in the middle of a match – luckily I got a few hours and I managed to play some good stuff by the end. I’m really happy to be in the second round here.”
Boulter is no doubt happy to be back on the grass – a surface where she’s enjoyed some of the best moments of her career, winning the Lexus Nottingham Open title in 2023 and 2024.
The British star won her fourth career WTA trophy in Ostrava earlier this year, but was unable to keep that going at the same level on the clay.
Having now played her first match back on grass and claimed a win over the world No.23, Boulter will be hoping to get back to her imperious best.
“I started my year really well on hard courts, I felt like I was building a lot of momentum,” she added. “As most people know I struggle a bit on the clay courts, but I am improving slowly.
“I’m here, back on the grass courts, at one of my home tournaments, we have an incredible crowd around us and I’m so grateful to be here another year.”
After the match, Boulter gave a salute up to the balcony, directed at Emma Raducanu, who defeated Anna Blinkova earlier in the day.
The Brits will re-ignite the Boultercanu doubles partnership later this afternoon on Court 1 against Zhang Shuai and Storm Hunter.
“I told her to start us off today and she did a great job of that,” Boulter said. “I just tried to keep that momentum. We’ve got some dubs later today so hopefully you (the crowd) can all come and watch.”
Despite having to wait hours to get on court yesterday due to the rain, Fernandez came out the blocks flying in the first set, breaking in only the third game and serving out a high-quality set.
Boulter had a big chance to break at 3-2 in the second, but once Fernandez managed to win the game, she immediately requested to resume the following day due to poor light.
When they returned on Tuesday, Boulter found the perfect response to an earlier break – punishing the Canadian’s second serve to level again at 4-4 before battling on to a tie-break.
In the business end of the breaker two-time Nottingham champion was gifted a golden opportunity. Fernandez hit a crucial double fault to set up two set points and Boulter took it with both hands to level the match.
In the second and third sets, Boulter was able to get more on the offensive and showcase exactly why she’s a two-time title-winner on the grass. She played 27% of points in attack during the last two sets vs 22% in the first, which had a knock on effect on the Canadian’s performance.
That double fault in the tie-break seemed to linger in Fernandez’s mind early in the decider as Boulter broke the eighth seed in the opening game.
Fernandez kept knocking on the door on the Briton’s serve and finally got her reward late in the set to level the scoreboard to 4-4.
In a match full of momentum shifts, it was Boulter who rose to the occasion in the defining moments. After setting up three break points at 5-5, the 29-year-old fired a laser forehand winner down the line – providing the platform she needed to see out her second biggest win of the year.
In the next round she will play Jaqueline Cristian of Romania, who defeated Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng in the first round.
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