Katie Boulter thrashed by Coco Gauff as Brit’s Canadian Open dream dashed

Katie Boulter’s impressive week in Montreal came to an end as she suffered a beatdown at the hands of Coco Gauff. The sixth seed needed just an hour and 12 minutes to defeat the Brit 6-2 6-2. Boulter enjoyed a dream run as she qualified to reach the second round of the Canadian Open. And she will still walk away with a new career-high ranking.

Boulter was facing her toughest test of the week after coming through qualifying to make the main draw in Montreal. The British No 1 hadn’t dropped a set across her last three matches though the sixth seed proved to be a much more difficult opponent. 

The world No 72 did have the benefit of leading their head-to-head, winning her only previous meeting against Gauff at the 2021 Gippsland Trophy. But the world No 7 was in fine form after winning her biggest career title in Washington last week and got off to a first start, immediately breaking Boulter.

The 27-year-old struggled to match the level of her opponent as she was broken to love with both women laughing in disbelief when Gauff’s ball hit the net and just trickled over. But Boulter managed to stop her run and got one of the breaks back, winning two games in a row.

It wasn’t enough, however, as the sixth seed broke for a second time to take the opener 6-2 in just 28 minutes. Boulter refused to go away without a fight as she created a break point chance in the first game of the second set but Gauff escaped from the game with the help of a second-serve ace.

It was the American’s turn to hold some more break points while leading 2-1, converting her second to put herself within touching distance of the last-16. Just like the first set, Gauff looked to get another break over Boulter as she had match points with the Brit serving at 2-5. 

Boulter saved the first four but found herself facing a fifth. This time, the 19-year-old managed to convert the match point, continuing her winning streak following last week’s triumph in Washington to end Boulter’s dream run.