As the dust settles on the Australian Open, the WTA Tour continues with tournaments in Austria and Thailand this week, and British interest lies in Linz where Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage are competing in the main draw of the WTA 500 Upper Austria Ladies Linz.
I’m really happy with my performance. My game plan was simply to have fun and feel the ball well in the racket. That worked out really well. I feel very comfortable here. Linz is a wonderful city and I still have a lot to discover here over the next few days. Katie Boulter
Boulter, the British No 1, cruised past Italian Jasmine Paolini in just 76 minutes, wrapping up a 6-2 6-2 upset win over the 6th seed.
It was a perfect start for the 27-year-old, who went out of this year’s Australian Open following defeat at the hands of eventual finalist Zheng Qinwen from China, and the Brit put on an excellent performance at the indoor hard court event, saving all 5 break points she faced as she stormed into the 2nd-round with the 4th victory of her career against a Top 25 opponent.
“I’m really happy with my performance,” Boulter said after the match. “My game plan was simply to have fun and feel the ball well in the racket. That worked out really well.
“I feel very comfortable here. Linz is a wonderful city and I still have a lot to discover here over the next few days.”
Boulter, who fired 4 aces, and struck 23 winners to her 14 unforced errors all told, broke the Italian World No 24 twice in the opening set and then held for a 5-1 lead before serving out to take it in 31 minutes.
Paolini lost her serve in the opening game of the second, and, after being broken again in the 5th game, failed to convert 3 break points of her own against Boulter’s serve to trail 1-5.
Boulter’s next opponent is Russian World No 42 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the last 16 in Austria, who saw off another Italian, Martina Trevisan, 6-4 6-0, also on Monday.
Jodie Burrage came through 2 rounds of qualifying to make into the main draw of the WTA 500 tournament in Linz
© Morgan Hancock/Getty Images
Burrage, the British No 2, qualified for the main draw with wins over Emiliana Arango from Colombia, 6-1 6-4, and Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam, 5-7 6-3 6-2, and will play 7th-seeded Varvara Gracheva from France on Tuesday.
Harriet Dart, the British No 3 and 11th qualifying seed, though, lost her opening match against Germany’s Jule Niemeier, a German wild-card, 7-6(7) 6-2, on Saturday.
Niemeier, the 2022 Wimbledon quarter-finalist, was the only German to make it though qualifying after defeating Nuria Parrizas Diaz of Spain, 6-3 6-1, on Monday.
Meanwhile, Elina Svitolina was forced to pull out of the tournament due to a back problem that bothered her in Melbourne, while Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova also withdrew after suffering with a shoulder injury.
The top seed in Linz is Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia, who took a late wild-card into the draw, while Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova is the No 2 seed, and are expected to play on Wednesday after receiving 1st-round byes.
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