EASTBOURNE/STARNBERG, June 20, 2022
Briton Katie Boutlter continued her fine grass-court season as the day drew to a close with play finishing at 8:50 pm local time at the Rothesay International Eastbourne. The 25-year-old from Leicestershire defeated World No. 56 Tereza Martincova from the Czech Republic in straight sets 7-5, 7-6(5) on Sunday.
Boulter is part of the LTA’s Pro-Scholarship Programmer which is the highest level of support offered to players with the best chance of reaching the ATP/WTA top 100 in singles. Boulter has now achieved three Top-60 wins this season. She will face No. 4 seed Karolina Pliskova in her first second round match at Devonshire Park. Lesia Tsurenko from Ukraine, Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Donna Vekic from Croatia secured their place in the WTA main draw. Channel Islands’s Heather Watson has earned a place in the main draw as a lucky loser.
Kanepi into second round
Kaia Kanepi fought back from a set down to advance into the second round of the grass-court tournament after she beat Nuria Parrizas Diaz 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court. In her first tour-level match in Britain since 2018, the Estonian eventually wore down the Spaniard after forcing her to save 11 of 15 break points throughout the two hour and 27-minute contest.
“I’m happy that I managed to win. It was very difficult to play on the court because it was new, so it bounced really low which was uncomfortable for me,” Kanepi said. “It looks really good, but it was tough to play on. I played her [Beatriz Haddad Maia] on clay at Roland Garros, so it will be interesting to see how it goes on grass.”
The two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist will face the Rothesay Nottingham Open and Rothesay Classic Birmingham champion Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in the second round.
In the men’s singles, John Millman from Australia, US-American Brandon Nakashima, Thiago Monteiro from Brazil and James Duckworth of Australia all qualified.
Rothesay International Eastbourne Results
