British tennis celebrated a WTA title on Saturday – but not the one most people were talking about.
Throughout the last week, Katie Boulter’s race in Ostrava has been overshadowed by Emma Raducanu’s parallel progress in Cluj-Napoca.
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But it was Raducanu who hesitated and Boulter who crossed the finish line by overpowering Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch in three sets, sealing her return to the world’s top 100 after a miserable 2025 campaign.
“Everyone close to me knows how difficult the last year has been for me,” Boulter said in his victory speech. “To get today, it’s worth it.”
It was a match of contrasts between the big but sometimes unreliable play of Boulter and the hurried recovery skills of the underpowered Korpatsch – a player who hits winners barely more often than she has birthdays.
Boulter held all the cards throughout the match and missed a clear chance to win the first set when she served at 5-4. “All week I was just swinging and going for it and trusting my game,” she said, “but as soon as you get to the final you start to question yourself. That showed when she stole the first set from me.”
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Nevermind. Boulter still had the match on her racket, as the pros say, and she began to increase her aggression. Korpatsch admitted during the presentation: “I feel like I played so bad today, but honestly, I think you just didn’t let me play better.”
Korpatsch also told a heartwarming story about feeling “destroyed” in the dressing room a few seasons ago after a poor run of results, only for Boulter to give her a motivational pep talk. “You said something very nice to me, which honestly helped me a lot.”
Tamara Korpatsch (left) and Boulter compare crowns during the trophy ceremony – Petr Sznapka/CTK photo
Back at Boulter, it was a significant moment for a woman who arrived in Ostrava with just four tournament victories since Wimbledon. It is also a vindication of her decision to change coaches, from Biljana Veselinovic to the experienced Michael Joyce, who previously worked with Maria Sharapova, Jessica Pegula and Johanna Konta, among others.
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Boulter will start at No. 84, a position that will allow her direct entry into WTA 1000 events such as Miami and Indian Wells. Meanwhile, her four WTA titles equal the record set by Heather Watson, surpassing Konta’s three. You have to go back to the prolific Virginia Wade, who retired just over four decades ago, to find a Briton with more trophies to her name.
