Wimbledon 2018: Katie Boulter out after second-round defeat to Naomi Osaka

The 21-year-old Briton will take plenty of positives from a battling performance

Katie Boulter’s Wimbledon campaign ended in a 6-3, 6-4 second-round defeat to Japan’s Naomi Osaka here on Thursday, but the 21-year-old Briton will take plenty of positives from a battling performance against an opponent who looks set to become one of the biggest names in world tennis.

Osaka is already ranked No 18 in the world, has won one of the biggest tournaments outside of the Grand Slams and has beaten Serena Williams, but the 20-year-old Japanese did not have things all her own way in the face of an impressive display by Boulter, who will become the British No 2 at the end of this tournament.

Boulter hit some excellent ground strokes and showed a delicate touch with some beautifully judged drop shots, but what impressed more than anything was her temperament. Playing the biggest match of her career so far in front of an enthusiastic crowd on Court 2, she rarely showed any signs of nerves, even after losing the first three games.

Osaka is one of the game’s biggest hitters. The sheer weight of her shots was sometimes too much for Boulter, though it was the Japanese player’s iron will on the biggest points that proved decisive. Boulter had eight break points but converted only one of them, while Osaka took three of her four opportunities.

“I actually felt really comfortable out there,” Boulter said afterwards. “I put my heart out there. I did the best I could. It was so close. I had a lot of break points. She served well. I don't think I could do that much better. She's a top player, and I respect that.”

Boulter started 2017 ranked No 368 in the world but ended last year in the top 200 and has continued to move forward. After winning seven matches in her three tournaments on grass last month, she has climbed to a career-high position at No 122 in the world rankings and will make further progress at the end of the fortnight here. With Heather Watson slipping down the world order, she is guaranteed to replace her as British No 2 behind Johanna Konta the week after next.

Having lost to the experienced Christina McHale on her debut in the main draw here last year, Boulter recorded her first main-draw victory at a Grand Slam tournament in the first round earlier this week with a hard-fought win over Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg.

Osaka, who at 20 is 14 months younger than Boulter, was born in Japan to Haitian and Japanese parents but moved to the United States when she was three. She lives and trains in Florida and has joint citizenship, but chose to represent Japan.

Boulter performed well (AFP/Getty Images)

Although English is her first language, she has been trying to improve her Japanese. She is coached by Sascha Bajin, who was Serena Williams’ long-time hitting partner.

Osaka reached the third round on her debut here last year, when she was ranked No 59 in the world, and has made great progress in the last 12 months. She has won six of her eight matches against top 20 opponents in 2018 and beat Simona Halep (world No 1) and Karolina Pliskova (No 5) en route to her biggest triumph so far when she won the title at Indian Wells four months ago. She followed that performance by beating Williams in the first round of the Miami Open.

This was the second meeting between Boulter and Osaka in three weeks. Osaka had dropped only three games when they met in the first round at Edgbaston last month, but from the start it was clear that this would be a much closer contest.

Looking back, Boulter will regret failing to take any of her four break points in the opening game, though Osaka defended them well. Osaka promptly broke at the first attempt in the following game and was soon 3-0 up.

Boulter, nevertheless, kept her nerve. The Briton held for 3-1 and then broke for 3-2 as Osaka netted a forehand under pressure. The set was back on serve, but Osaka broke back immediately thanks to a thumping backhand down the line.

Osaka is through to the third round (REUTERS)

When Osaka served at 5-3 and 0-30 hopes rose that Boulter might fight back once more, but the Japanese held firm to take the first set in 37 minutes.

Boulter started the second set well, but once again her opponent proved resilient. The Briton had three break points for a 2-0 lead, only for Osaka to save each of them with big forehands.

At 2-2 Osaka made what proved to be the only break of the second set. A loose forehand saw Boulter go 15-40 down and a netted backhand gave Osaka the break.

Boulter, nevertheless, kept going for her shots. When she served to stay in the set at 3-5 she was brave enough to hit a winning drop shot at 0-15, went to 40-30 with a big forehand and took the game with a service winner. Osaka was not to be denied, however, and completed her victory after an hour and 18 minutes on her first match point with a forehand winner.

Boulter said she would take away a lot from her experience. “She's a top-20 player. She hits the ball harder than me. She hits it more consistently. It's something I need to get used to. I feel like even within a space of two weeks, I've changed. I've got better at it.

“As the scoreline showed today, it was much better than Birmingham.It's a really good learning experience for me. I'm looking forward to going forward and having many more matches against people like that.

“It's exciting to be in this situation. To be able to compete with a top-20 player is something I've imagined myself doing. Now I'm actually doing it.I look forward to more matches like that. I hope I can replicate these tournaments over and over.”

Boulter said that the last few weeks had confirmed the fact that grass was her favourite surface.“I know the work that I've put in at the same time, so it's all there,” she added. “It was just a matter of time before it came out. I think it's been a really good experience for me playing over the grass. I think it puts me in a good stage for the rest of the season.”

With her improved world ranking Boulter said she hoped to play mostly on the main tour in the immediate future rather than on the second-tier International Tennis Federation circuit. She will also be very close to being able to qualify for the US Open at the end of August.

Osaka said she had been impressed by Boulter. “I think she's really good," she said. “She has a good serve. She hit a couple of return winners from my serve, which I think is pretty hard to do. She's pretty solid from the back.I just think that when we were rallying sometimes, I hit a higher-paced ball that was a little bit difficult for her.”