The Australian attempt to maintain a women’s finals streak that dated back more than half-a-century at Queen’s is over, but one Australian is happy about that.
In normal circumstances Alex de Minaur, the Australian men’s No.1, would be expected to back Ajla Tomljanovic, but not when she’s playing his fiancee, British No.1 Katie Boulter.
On a court he knows very well having reached the men’s final in 2023, Boulter put the watching de Minaur through the wringer as she battled past Tomljanovic despite losing more games.
Roared on by the London crowd Boulter overcame a superb middle set by Tomljanovic to win 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 6-4 in a see-saw match lasting well over two hours.
With Maddison Inglis beaten by No.6 seed Karolina Muchova 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-4, and Daria Kasatkina knocked out on Monday, all three Australians were KO’d in the opening round.
The women’s event at Queens has been revived after a 52-year gap, having closed with four Australians in succession reaching the final from 1970-1973. Two wins by Margaret Court were followed by defeats for Karen Krantzcke and Evonne Goolagong (now Cawley).
At one point it seemed Tomljanovic, who came through qualifying as she continues her attempt to climb back up the rankings following a series of injuries, would stay in contention to maintain that run.
Edged out in an hour-long opening set she blitzed Boulter in the second winning five matches in succession. Her trademark powerful groundstrokes were in evidence as she pushed Boulter deep and pulled her wide, building on a series of excellent serves.
An immediate break in the third set seemed to set Tomljanovic up for victory but her serve faltered and Boulter bit back.
Nevertheless, her purple patch was encouraging as the current Aussie No.3 readies herself for Wimbledon, where she was a quarter-finalist in 2021 and 2022.
Boulter admitted it was ‘weird’ having de Minaur watching her on court at Queens having previously only watched him play there.
“I feel like I had a lot of emotions today,” she added. “It’s very easy to get caught up in just trying to get your first grass court match, also coming to such an historic venue which holds a lot of purpose and a lot of familiar feelings when I’ve come here before.”
Inglis was unlucky in that her match was suspended on Monday evening due to failing light when she had momentum. On resumption she fought hard but Muchova won her only break point while Inglis failed to take the two she created.
On a good day for the home fans Heather Watson upset world No. 27 Yulia Putintseva, 107 places above her in the rankings, 6-4 6-3 and Emma Raducana made short work of Cristina Bucsa 6-1 6-2.
