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Jodie Burrage and Katie Boulter set up an intriguing British derby at the Rothesay Open. Both players came through their respective semi-finals on Saturday. Boulter was the first to advance to the final with a win over another compatriot, Heather Watson.
The 26-year-old, ranked 126th in the world posted a 6-4, 7-5 victory, five minutes shy of two hours. This is the first time in her career that Boulter’s made it to the finals of a WTA Tour tournament. Boulter won 75% of her first-serve points to Watson’s 68% and 47% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 43%.
She saved five of seven break points she faced while converting four of eight break points on Watson’s serve.
Rothesay Open: A lot on the line for Katie Boulter, Jodie Burrage
Following her win, Boulter said, “It means so much to me, especially here.
I just tried to put my heart on the line, and I managed to get through it in the end. She (Watson) is an incredible player and I knew it was going to be a brutal match. She's an amazing girl and she deserved it just as much as I did, so it was so nice to see us out here playing semis.
I've worked so hard for this, me and my team especially. I'm going to just keep plugging away. Even if it isn't my moment, it's been a great week for me, and I'm just going to keep working hard”. In her semi-final against lone-remaining non-Briton, Alize Cornet, Burrage needed an hour and 44 minutes to prevail 7-5, 7-5.
Cornet won 67% of her first-serve points to Burrage’s 63%. But the latter won 54% of her second-serve points and 67% points on return on the French player’s second serve. Burrage saved five of the nine break points she faced while converting six of nine break points that came her way on Cornet’s serve.
As with Katie Boulter, the Rothesay Open final will be the first of Jodie Burrage’s career. Boulter has defeated Burrage on both previous occasions they’ve played each other. Their first meeting was at the 2017 Aegon Classic in Birmingham, in the first round of qualifying.
Then, earlier this year, they played in the final of the ITF 60k in Canberra. Photo Credit: Katie Boulter Twitter