Great Britain’s Katie Boulter will rue the moment her scheduled opponent Lesia Tsurenko pulled out of their first-round match at the Adelaide international WTA 500.
Into the Ukrainian veteran’s place jumped a lucky loser, Romania’s Ana Bogdan, four years older than Boulter at 31 but with a very similar career trajectory and ranked nine places lower than the English player at world No.66.
Bogdan claimed a 6-3 6-4 victory in an hour and 46 minutes to end a six-match winning streak by Boulter, which included wins over world No.5 Jessica Pegula and Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic at the United Cup in Perth.
Boulter though will be frustrated, possibly very deeply. She pushed and pushed against the redoubtable Bogdan but seemingly every other forehand, her best stroke, that she cracked came back with interest and more.
It was very much a battle constructed and won from the back of the court by Bogdan and at times conjured up some blistering rallies.
When they finally came together at the net after the winning point, Bogdan appeared momentarily bedazzled, as if she couldn’t believe her luck and stopped and offered words and gestures of genuine consolation.
She had shrieked whenever a big point went her way throughout the match, as if she couldn’t quite comprehend that her good fortune was continuing. Adelaide and then Melbourne next week both pride themselves on their coffee culture and prowess but Bogdan in this mood would be advised to steer clear of any caffeine.
Bogdan had good reason to be hyped up. A couple of hours before play began she was hanging around a sunny and warm Adelaide as a lucky loser after falling in straight sets to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the qualifiers. And then the withdrawal.
About 20 minutes before play began Bogdan was spotted dashing across a private grassed area between the Drive’s second show court and the changing rooms at the adjoining Adelaide Oval. Not having time to get nervous, she played like she didn’t have a shred of nerves about her and thoroughly merited her win.
Seventh seed Liudmila Samsonova or Laura Siegemund will be the opponent in the second round.
Boulter now heads to Melbourne and post-match, there was a small indication of the media and public fascination that might await her there.
Walking off the number two show court she was trailed by several teenage fans who asked for autographs and despite the loss, she obliged with a smile.
Ranked world No.57, the player who made the UK tabloids last Wimbledon in conjunction with De Minaur and has appeared in fashion magazine Vogue will not find the Australian Open a cakewalk – but nevertheless has a star quality the sport cherishes always.