Italian Open: Alex de Minaur’s girlfriend, Katie Boulter suffers shock early Rome exit to qualifier Rebecca Sramkova
Katie Boulter knocked out of the Italian Open in Rome at the second round by qualifier Rebecca Sramkova; world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka came from behind to progress.
Highlights of Rebecca Sramkova against Katie Boulter from Rome.
Britain’s Katie Boulter suffered a shock early exit at the Italian Open, losing 6-4 7-6 to Slovakian qualifier Rebecca Sramkova in Rome.
Boulter entered the tournament in the Italian capital seeded at 26, giving her a bye to the second round, but she fell at the first hurdle to Sramkova.
The first set saw the impressive Sramkova break the Brit twice early, and though Boulter broke back once, the 27-year-old kept her composure to serve out at 6-4.
A topsy-turvy second set saw Sramkova break Boulter early again, only for the Brit to break her opponent back twice in response, putting her in a position to serve for the set at 5-4 and take the match to a third set decider.
Sramkova broke Boulter in that crucial game, however, with the second set going on to an epic tiebreak, during which Sramkova forced three match points at different times, eventually clinching the win 10-8 in the tiebreak.
