- Katie Boulter starts with a win in the Progress Tour as she beat Alice Gillan
- Katie Swan was forced to retire against Alicia Barnett
- Freya Christie beat Maia Lumsden in the only third-setter of the day in singles
ROEHAMPTON, UK – On the opening day of the Progress Tour Women’s Championship, Katie Boulter took a straight set victory while Katie Swan had to retire.
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Katie Boulter def. Alice Gillan 6-1 6-4
Katie Boulter opened her campaign at the Progress Tour beating Alice Gillan 6-1 6-4 on the opening day at Roehampton’s National Tennis Centre.
Boulter, dropped to No.374 due to injury, shared her apartment before the tournament with Laura Robson. She tried to stay positive during the pandemic and looked focused in her first match after it.
She confessed she enjoyed keeping myself in shape. During the lockdown, Boulter discovered not to be very good at sitting on the couch and doing nothing.
Her first match in the tournament wasn’t pretty, she admitted. “I felt like I competed well I served well. There were elements of my game I felt I needed to improve on but that’s like every single day” she said.
I think [Gillan] lifted up her game a little bit. I felt like I was giving away a couple of shots here and there which I felt was a little bit of concentration. She definitely lifted up her game. The new balls came in as well which made it difficult. She hits well. I have to be prepared for anything that she’s going to give me (quotes contributed by Ros Satar).
Jodie Burrage def. Emily Arbuthnott 6-2 6-3
In the Group Anne Keothavong, Jodie Burrage took her 11th victory in her last 12 matches against inconsistent Emily Arbuthnott. Burrage, definitely more clinical on the biggest points, focused on her fitness in lockdown and it paid its dividends almost immediately.
Burrage found it quite hard to start the transition from indoor to outdoor court.
“Emily makes a lot of balls and especially being outside, it being a little bit slower it was pretty hard to get my game on the court” she said.
I played indoors last week so it did take me a while to adjust to everything. The match was a really good match. Emily played well. I struggled to get my energy a little but, yeah i’m happy to come through it, because there was some tight situations (quotes contributed by Ros Satar).
Although playing without fans, and having to call her own lines, sounded “a little bit weird”, Burrage managed to create her own atmosphere to collect another win and increase her confidence.
Freya Christie def. Maia Lumsden 6-3 2-6 6-3
Freya Christie came back from 0-3 in he decider to beat 6-3 2-6 6-3 Maia Lumsden, who came off four straight wins on the British Tour.
Christie managed to drill heavy strokes to break three times the Scottish No.1 in the decider. They had a different sort of battle before the match playing videogames, specifically Mario Kart. “We have been enjoying that” she said after the match.
It was good to win the first set and then I got the early break at 1-0 I think and then momentum kind of swung a little bit. Not sure why, sometimes it can just happen like that in matches. I thought I did really well, to be honest, to regroup and just get myself going. Especially I was down again in the third set, so to fight back, I thought I did well with that today (quotes contributed by Ros Satar).
READ MORE | Tennis | Progress Tour Women’s Championships | Everything you need to know
Alicia Burnett def Katie Swan 6-4 1-4 RET.
In her group, Katie Swan retired in the middle of the second set against Alicia Barnett, who won the opener 6-4. Swan was leading 4-1 in the second when she felt forced off the court with a right hip injury
The British number six, who had won the first set, was visibly upset when she was forced off the court with a right hip injury with the score at 6-4 1-4.
Progress Tour, Division 1 matches
In the Division 1 singles, Sasha Hill edged Nell Miller 6-4 4-6, 6-3 in the Group Anabel Croft, while Amelia Bissett lost just two games as she showed a dominant performance beating 6-1 6-1 Esther Adeshina.
In the Group Sam Smith, Erin Richardson took a 6-2 6-1 win over Danielle Daley. Also Olivia Nicholls began her campaign with an easy 6-3 6-1 victory over Victoria Allen.
Play begins on Day 2 of the Progress Tour Women’s Championships at 11am (BST).
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