Daily Times

Katie Boulter defeated Yuan Yue for her first Australian Open victory in five years. The British number one has lost in qualifying in Melbourne the previous two years but made rapid strides up the rankings in 2023 and was impressive in a 7-5 7-6 (1) victory over in-form Yuan. The only missed step from Boulter, who has been subject of a lot of attention as the girlfriend of Australia’s big hope Alex De Minaur, was two match points that went begging on her own serve at 5-4 in the second set.

But she regrouped well and dominated the tie-break for just her second main-draw victory at Melbourne Park. It was a tight contest throughout but Boulter showed once again that she is a player for the big occasion, coming out on top in nearly all the key moments. A break for 6-5 in the opening set gave her the chance to serve it out, which she took in hot, breezy conditions. Yuan, ranked seven places lower than Boulter at 61 in the world, reached the semi-finals of the WTA Tour event in Hobart last week, while her opponent also came into the tournament high on confidence after the best win of her career over Jessica Pegula at the United Cup.

There was nothing to separate the pair in the second set until Boulter, who had been under more pressure on her serve, broke to lead 5-4. But her composure wavered at the wrong time, the 27-year-old serving a double fault on her first match point and then making a backhand error on the second as Yuan pulled back level. She did not dwell on the missed opportunities, though, winning the first five points of the tie-break and taking her third match point to join fellow Britons Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper in the second round.