“Hopefully she can become as successful as them and join the next tier of top players whilst going a bit deeper into one of the Grand Slam tournaments”
The above quote is the final thought in my post after watching then-British number one women’s player Katie Boulter 12 months ago. Sadly, the 2025 season has seen a little regression with the much higher profile Emma Raducanu replacing her at the summit of British women’s tennis. However, none of that really mattered to me when I got to see her play earlier this week in Tokyo.
Around ten years ago I began to hear the name of Katie Boulter mentioned by BBC Radio Leicester in sports bulletins or tweets. As someone who is proud to come from Leicester, I sat up and took notice and have followed her career ever since. The last 6-7 years in particular saw her climb the rankings and enter the top 30 in the world but she’s slipped down to the 60s now. It’s certainly not where she wants to be but is still pretty impressive to me.
The same birthplace as me albeit a few years later!!
There were two days of qualification action last weekend (October 18-19) for some players to try and reach the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open (TPPO) tournament. Thankfully Boulter won her match on Saturday against Anna Blinkova meaning I’d definitely get to see her play the following day when I’d be in attendance.
With tickets available for free, the crowd inside the 10,000 seater Ariake Coliseum was bigger than usual for the first few days of the tournament but still a long, long way from full capacity. Australia’s Kimberly Birrell was all that was standing in the way of her entering the main tournament draw.
On a sunny morning with the arena open to the elements, things didn’t start too well for “our Katie” who was 4-1 down early on.
9 of the best! I took way too many pictures!
Light spits of rain had begun to fall in the fifth game and the tournament director decided to halt proceedings whilst the lights were switched on, the roof was closed and the court was wiped dry by a host of staff including the ball boys and girls.
The first set was pretty much done and dusted when play resumed but Boulter recovered a bit and went down 6-3 before bouncing back in the second to level it up at one set a piece.
I lost count of the ups and downs as well as the breaks of serve in the final set as the pendulum of advantage swung back and forth many times. It really was an absolute epic which lasted over three hours before going to a tie-break. Thankfully that wasn’t actually too tense as Boulter won it fairly comfortably.
Once it was game, set and match I moved quickly down to the front with the hope and expectation of meeting her again once she’d done her interview and knocked some signed balls into the stands. However, due to the long duration of the match the organisers were keen to get the next two players out so Boulter took her bag to the middle of the court for the interview and thus bypassed the large number of people waiting for an autograph or selfie. She did eventually do some of that in the corner by the players tunnel but I was never going to be able to get through the crowds that had gathered for a piece of her.
If that wasn’t enough for free, I was then very happy as rising German star Eva Lys was on court next and I could see her for the first time. Admittedly, I am quite a new fan of hers having heard her name mentioned a fair amount in the tennis media in recent times albeit more for the online abuse she receives after losing matches. I did some research about her actual tennis performances then and have seen some limited highlights since then so was keen to see her in action in real-time.
Her match against Victorija Golubic was also a closely fought contest but not quite as neck and neck as the previous one. Lys eventually reigned supreme to win 6-3, 7-6.
Having not been able to meet Boulter I really was expecting exactly the same with Lys but she was summoned by a few other fans and did come over. Not only did I get a selfie but I actually spoke to her for a while whilst she signed autographs and posed for others around me.
Unbelievably, and rather unfairly, Boulter and Lys then faced off against each other in the opening match of Day 1 which was played with the roof on to a fairly sparse crowd.
Boulter had had a little extra time to recover but had participated in a far more grueling encounter, and it showed as she was outclassed. She still managed to produce some wonderful points but was obviously drained from the previous day. Me too! It’s hard work sitting down and watching shots go back and forth!!
The best photo I could get this year of Katie and I together!!
If you’ve ever wondered what those nice TV shots of players sitting down in the break are like, then the following photo shows you the reality of a bored cameraman just pointing a camera in her direction and almost being embarrassed to look at her himself!
After the highs of the previous day, it was something of a struggle to get into this match which was ultimately a bit too one sided with Lys winning it 6-2, 6-1.
Eva Lys was then on the wrong end of that same scoreline in the following round against Canadian Open champion Victoria Mboko. Seeing Boulter and Lys play twice each was great but there were some even bigger highs to come on the other days I was present at the 2025 TPPO.
Click here to read ‘I Met Britain’s No. 1 Female Tennis Player In Tokyo (& I Was On The TV Coverage A Fair Bit Too!)’
Click here to read ‘The Highs & Lows of This Year’s International Tennis Tournament In Tokyo’
Click here to read ‘A Double Dose of Tennis: Alcaraz In Tokyo, Big Balls, A Brit Appearance, Japan’s Rising Star, German Efficiency & Bjorn Borg!’
Click here to read ‘My Rather Blinkered Review of the 2024 Tennis Season!’
Click here to read ‘Two Tennis Tournaments In Tokyo Serve Up Mixed Fortunes For Me!’
Click here to read ‘Naomi Osaka Is The Star Attraction In Tokyo As Japan Compete In The World Cup Of Tennis’
Click on the links below to read about previous tournaments:
TPPO 2024 TPPO 2023 TPPO 2022 TPPO 2015 TPPO 2014 TPPO 2013 TPPO 2012 TPPO 2010