Katie Boulter LOSES to Harriet Dart after nail-biting tie-breaker

British number one Katie Boulter has been knocked out of Wimbledon after losing to Harriet Dart in a nail-biting and emotionally intense game on Court One.

The number two went head-to-head with her friend and teammate today, as shocked crowds endured a number of tie-breakers.

Just minutes before the match ended, Dart was in floods of tears, wiping at her eyes assuming she was about to be defeated by her superior. 

Yet she managed to claw back from trailing Boulter 6-2 ending up winning after two hours and 56 minutes of tension. Her tears of anguish quickly turned to those of joy, as she hugged defeated Boulter.  

Speaking after the match she said: ‘I knew it was always going to be a really tough battle, we played a few weeks ago and it didn’t go my way. 

‘I wear my emotions on my sleeve so you see everything how I’m thinking, unfortunately, but I’m so happy to be able to get through. Thank you so much for the support, it was so fab.’ 

‘My head-to-head is absolutely woeful against Katie Boulter so I wasn’t expecting too much but at the same time I just tried my best out there and even though I was down in that tie-break I just thought give it everything, no regrets and I’m really pleased to be able to battle through,’ she added. 

It comes as Wimbledon watchers are being treated to the battle of the Brits on court today, with British wildcard Jacob Fearnley taking on seven-time world champion Novak Djokovic.

This afternoon, tennis legend Andy Murray steps onto the double’s court alongside his brother Jamie as he begins his farewell to SW19.

Meanwhile,  22-year-old Jack Draper will take on South African born Brit Cameron Norrie to battle it out to get a place in the third round. 

Both 27 years old, Boulter and Dart have spent over two decades in one another’s orbit, both growing up so emmeshed in the tennis world that their mothers – Sue Boulter and Susie Dart – had even met as players during their own early careers.  

The pair are friends – and Boulter has spoken about how ‘awful’ it can be to play her Billie Jean King Cup team-mate. 

But as Boulter’s star has risen to take in back-to-back Nottingham title wins and a seeded berth at Wimbledon, Dart has struggled to see the same success, making it to her first WTA-level semi-final just this year at the Translyvania Open.

In their senior outings, the pair have met one another seven times, but it has always been a one-sided conflict, with Boulter, the current British No1, besting Dart all but one of the times they’ve face one another. 

The world No100 will take no comfort that her one victory came not on grass, but on a hard court, nor that grass court have been a vivid green backdrop to two of their frostiest meetings. 

The first came last year, at the Nottingham Open, on the heels of Boulter’s 6-3 7-5 victory against her fellow Briton. Boulter was in fact en route to her maiden grass court title, and celebrated the quarter-final win expansively – much to Dart’s disapproval. 

Dart took issue with Boulter jabbing a finger at her temple in the direction of her player box, and told her so when they met at the net for a cursory handshake. 

Boulter denied that it had something to do with Dart, and Dart called her out for being ‘unprofessional’ as the players turned to the umpire, forcing another denial from the winner – who said that she made the gesture ‘after every match’ and that it was ‘nothing personal’.

But Dart struggles to keep her emotions close to her chest when playing fellow Brits, and Boulter in particular, their most recent meeting bubbling up as the player once again found herself unable to keep her cool. 

Back at Nottingham – just weeks before their meeting on No1 Court on Thursday – this time Dart boiled over when the chair umpire deemed Boulter’s winner as falling in, rather than out, as Dart saw it. 

‘No way!’ Dart shouted across court. ‘The ball was so far out.’

When the chair umpire confirmed her call, Dart repeatedly protested before saying that it was ’embarrassing’ and that she was ’embarrassing herself’ before receiving a reprimand. 

During the change of ends, Dart’s fury showed no signs of subsiding. 

‘I promise you,’ she continued, ‘if you watch it back, I will bet £50,000 that ball was out. Honestly. I would shake your hand right now. 

‘It’s a joke how far that ball was out.’ 

Boulter sensibly stayed far away from the conflict and knuckled down to see out the 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 7-5 match, which lasted well over three hours. 

At this point, the British No1 stressed after her first-round victory against Tatjana Maria, the pair ‘know each other’s games inside-out, back-to-front’, and Boulter is gearing up for a challenging clash as a result. 

‘Playing a Brit in the UK on the grass is never an easy draw and I’m expecting an absolute battle,’ Boulter said on Monday.  

‘I do have to draw on the last things that I have played with her and use that to my advantage in the next round. I think it’s going to be extremely tough. I have a lot of respect for her on this surface. It’s one of her favorite ones.

‘This is actually her home club. She’s been here since she was a tiny tot with her mum.’

But Boulter stressed that she was ‘excited’ by the challenge, adding: ‘you have two Brits here who are playing some very good tennis. She’s someone that’s going to make it very hard for me. I’m going to have to bring my A-game.’

Dart – then unaware whether she would be facing Maria or Boulter after her early dismissal of Zhuoxuan Bai – was less easy to read on how she felt about another meeting with a rival that has become one of her toughest opponents to beat. 

‘I have nothing to lose, that’s for sure,’ Dart pondered. ‘For me, a big goal was just trying to get through round one. Last year was I would say heartbreaking for me, but also put me in a place where I had to dig deep towards the end of the year.

‘I always think things happen for a reason. They definitely did. This year, I’m very much focusing much more on the process, how if I can play some good tennis, I can give myself the best opportunity to play well, to put myself in a position to win matches. That’s kind of all I can do.’ 

This afternoon Fearnley becomes the sixth British player to have faced Djokovic at Wimbledon – with Murray being the only Brit to have beaten him on the grass court.

The 22-year-old Scot qualified for the Nottingham Open at the start of last month and won it, earning a Wimbledon wildcard. And he made good use of his golden ticket on Tuesday by beating Spaniard Alejandro Moro Canas 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 on his Grand Slam debut.

Djokovic was at the same time eviscerating Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva. ‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t watching the scores on Centre Court,’ admitted Fearnley. ‘It was getting in my head a little bit that I was going to have to play him.’

Fearnley played college tennis at Texas Christian University, Cam Norrie‘s alma mater, and only graduated in May after winning the national title. His professional career is in its infancy but he has made a fine start.

Asked the question that has plagued the sport for a decade — how does one beat Djokovic? — he replied: ‘I don’t think many people have the answer to that. I have no idea. I’ve watched so many videos of him. It doesn’t look like there’s many flaws in his game.

‘I’m going to just try and enjoy it, put my game out on the court and see what happens. I don’t think there are many tactics going into the match!’

It was for the best that Fearnley was only following the scores rather than watching live, because Djokovic looked ominously good for a man who had meniscus surgery less than a month ago.

In his player’s box was the curious sight of Ronnie O’Sullivan, watching with his daughter. ‘I watch snooker just because of him,’ said Djokovic, 37. ‘I watched when I was a kid. My father loved watching snooker but I only watched Ronnie. We just met for the first time. It was great.

‘It was really nice to have him around. Hopefully we’re able to play some snooker because I’m really bad.’

He may be really bad at snooker but he is really good at tennis and the way he went about compiling this 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory, poor Kopriva may as well have been away from the table, sat in his chair sipping Highland Spring and adjusting his waistcoat.

There were certainly a few kinks visible in the Djokovic cueing action. He did not look to be bending his right knee as deep as usual so operated in a more upright position. It was noticeable on the return of serve and backhand, where we are so used to the yogi master playing with his knees scraping the surface of the court.

But he did what he does better than any other player in history — he adapted. He serve-volleyed frequently and attacked on return, keeping points short and sweet. He opened his shoulders on the forehand and struck that shot terrifically well.

Someone with a little more grass-court nous would have exploited Djokovic more but the Serb has been blessed with a dreamy draw — Fearnley is the British No13 for goodness sake — and he should have plenty of time to ease his way into the fortnight.

You can bet those knees will dip lower and lower as an eighth Wimbledon trophy moves closer and closer.