Cathy Boulter beat Harriet Dart in straight sets to advance to the semifinals. Photo: Getty Images/Nathan Stirk
Harriet Dart complained about Kathy Boulter's victory celebration after the British battle in the Rothesay Open quarter-finals.
After Boulter's win, which showed the best shape throughout the season, Dart was annoyed by the behavior when they met at the net.
Boulter pointed to her forehead, something former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka has been doing for years, and Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford also adopted last year.
If this sports cliché makes sense, it's something along the lines of «See what I can do when I'm focused?» You might think that this is hardly offensive.
But when the two players shook hands coldly, Dart said, «I thought you were doing this to me.» Boulter said, «It's not personal,» to which Dart replied, «It's not professional.» Boulter then left, saying «I do this in every match.»
🇬🇧 Katie Boulter advanced to Nottingham Open semi-finals after beating Britain's Harriet Dart.
They didn't have the friendliest handshake on the net after that 👀 #BBCTennis pic.twitter .com/buzs9vPlKw
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 16, 2023
The rivalry between British women can be a positive thing if it pushes them, and there was an encouraging moment in this clash.
While Dart has generally been ranked higher than Boulter over the past four years, this seems to be a bad coincidence for her. She was born four days earlier than her rival, so their paths crossed from an early age — with the addition that a quarter of a century ago their mothers were also rivals in the British race.
Dart is a mobile player who can redirect the ball beautifully, but her constant play seems to get Boulter into an equally reliable rhythm. It was the fifth time they played at senior level and the fourth time Boulter, who is taller, harder and hits the ball harder, won.
Dart complained about line calls throughout her 6-3, 7-5 loss and also called a medical timeout in the second set to deal with a hip problem. She managed to hit five match points as Boulter cringed at the end, but eventually missed a backhand to end the fun.
After that, Boulter took issue with the critical press coverage — as she saw it — of the recent absence of the British women in Grand Slams (despite wildcard Wimbledon invitations to be handed out by the All England Club).
“There has been a lot of talk about whether we will have the next players because of the amount of press,” Boulter told an on-court interviewer, “and I feel like we really showed this week that there is a lot of depth in British tennis. I hope that we will continue to look at it and think of positive things.”
It was another big day for the home contingent in Nottingham. Previously, Jody Burrage defeated Magdalena Frech in three sets. And then, after the Dart-Boulter clash, Watson beat Victoria Golubic to take three Britons to the semi-finals of a WTA tournament for the first time since Virginia Wade, Sue Barker and Glynis Coles at the 1975 Paris Indoors.
Murray is still in contention for the seed Wimbledon
Meanwhile, Andy Murray continued his unbeaten streak on grass by beating Dominic Stricker, a talented 20-year-old southpaw from Switzerland, 7-6, 7-5 in Nottingham. . The result means Murray is likely to be in the top 40 in the world when the next ranking is released on Monday, for the first time since his hip exploded in 2017.
“Very, very crowded. match today against one of the best young players in the world,” Murray said after winning in 1 hour 48 minutes. “He has a really good game, powerful shots from outside the area, and also a very good game at the net. It's the best I've played in the last two weeks, I hit the ball very well.”
During that time, Murray won eight matches in a row, losing only one set. If he maintains his form, he could achieve his next goal: a Wimbledon seed in just over two weeks.
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