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British tennis player Katie Boulter was grateful for the support the Eastbourne crowd provided to her during a shock win over former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova. On Tuesday, 127th-ranked Boulter upset 2021 Wimbledon finalist Pliskova 1-6 6-4 6-4 to progress into the Eastbourne round-of-16.
It was the second meeting between the two as Boulter and Pliskova now stand at 1-1 in their head-to-head meetings. “That gave me goosebumps so thank you so much,” Boulter said on-court when asked about the atmosphere at Devonshire Park, as quoted on Tennis365.
“I am super proud of myself. I went out, didn’t feel great and worked so hard to get out there. I battled and fought and to beat a player like that means so much”.
Boulter produced a stunning comeback
Boulter made a slow start to the match as Pliskova won the opening five games.
However, it's not that Pliskova was dominant as Boulter had break points in three of the first five games. But Boulter missed out on a total of seven break points in the opening five games and that's why Pliskova was able to open a 5-0 lead.
Boulter served out the seventh game to finally get on the board but Pliskova had no problems closing out the first set in the eighth game. After losing the first set, Boulter missed out on a total of six break points over Pliskova's first three service games in the second set.
Boulter finally claimed her first break of the match in the eighth game to open a 5-3 lead but then failed to serve out for the set in the following game. However, Boulter still won the second set after breaking Pliskova in the 10th game.
After winning the second set, Boulter was twice up by a break in the third set but Pliskova twice recovered as the two players were to four games apiece after the opening eight games. Boulter then served out the ninth game to open a 5-4 lead, before breaking Pliskova in the 10th game to complete a straight-set win.