Osaka | Boulter upsets Noskova at WTA 250 in Japan

Former British No 1 Katie Boulter pulled off a stunning upset at the WTA 250 Kinoshita Group Japan Open in Osaka on Monday, when she beat the No 2 seed, Linda Noskova from Czechia, in the 1st-round, 7-6(3) 6-3, producing one of her most impressive win in months.

I’m not sure what it is, but I gravitate towards Japan. I love it here. I played here many times when I was younger. I don’t know why I have great feelings here, but it showed on the court. Katie Boulter

Boulter has endured a largely disappointing summer, and seen her ranking slip from a career high of No 23 to 59, which has dropped her to No 3 in the current British listings, with both Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal now ahead of her.

She came into Osaka on the back of 5 opening match defeats from the 7 tournaments she has played of late, including at the US Open in August.

In Japan, however, she is showing signs of her best form with a straight sets win over Noskova, who is ranked 17 in the world, and reached the final of the WTA 1000 China Open in Beijing just a couple of weeks ago.

“I’m really pleased with my performance today. It’s been a difficult few weeks,” said Boulter, whose last win over a Top 20 player came against Spain’s Paula Badosa at Wimbledon in July. “I just tried to bet on myself, commit to the ball, and go for it.

“Against someone like Linda, you have to win the match, they won’t lose it. I went out there and played a good match, so I’m happy.

“I’m not sure what it is, but I gravitate towards Japan. I love it here. I played here many times when I was younger. I don’t know why I have great feelings here, but it showed on the court.”

Linda Noskova reached the China Open final and is ranked 17 in the world, but she was outplayed by Katie Boulter in the 1st-round of Osaka on Monday

Both lost their serve 3 times in the first set, but Boulter dominated the tiebreak to take a one-set lead, and improved significantly to dominate in the second, in which she won 78% of points on her serve, compared to 51% during the opener.

With her serve firing, Boulter rarely looked in any trouble against the Czech, as she recorded just her 2nd Top 20 win of the year.

The 29-year old took an hour and 36 minutes to seal her landmark win and advance in Osaka, setting up a 2nd-round contest against Romania’s, Sorana Cirstea, who came from a set and a break down to defeat wild-card Moyuka Uchijima, 2-6 6-4 6-2, her second defeat of the Japanese player in the past 2 months.

Top seed Naomi Osaka had little trouble against wild-card Wakana Sonobe to begin her campaign at the Japan Open, and takes on the defending champion Suzan Lamens next

Meanwhile, top seed Naomi Osaka strolled into the 2nd-round with a comprehensive 6-0 6-4 win against Sonobe Wakana, another Japanese wild-card.

The 4-time Grand Slam champion, who is playing in the event for the first time since 2017, opened strongly and bagelled the first set, before going on to break Sonobe in the 6th game of the second, and holding serve to close out the match after 76 minutes.

Next up for the Japanese is the defending champion is Suzan Lamens from the Netherlands, as the 27-year-old seeks her first quarter-final appearance in Osaka.

Lamens opened her title defence with a routine 6-1 6-2 win over Emiliana Arango, dropping just the 3 games to the Colombian in their 70 minute meeting.

Arango was a last-minute lucky loser at the recent China Open, and made the most of her second chance with a straight-sets win over Lamens to improve their head-to-head to 2-1, but she had few answers against the Dutchwoman on this occasion.

Osaka leads Lamens 1-0 in their head-to-head series, having won in ‘s-Hertogenbosch on grass in straight sets last year.

After reaching the final in Montréal and the semi-finals at the US Open to climb back into the world’s Top 20, Osaka has struggled to maintain her winning form in Asia, managing just one win across Beijing and Wuhan before arriving in Japan this week.

In another 1st-round match on Monday, 6th seed Olga Danilovic from Serbia defeated local wild-card Nao Hibino, 6-4 1-6 6-2, and advances to meet America’s Ashlyn Krueger, who avenged her Beijing loss to Maria Sakkari from Greece, coming from a set down to win, 2-6 6-3 6-4, after 2 hours and 21 minutes.

Three weeks ago, the Greek had needed 3 hours and 29 minutes to see off Krueger in a Beijing 1st-round epic.