When the Wimbledon draw was announced, unseeded Katie Boulter would have hoped for a favourable outcome.
However, the British number two has landed a tough first-round match against former world number two Paula Badosa.
The Spaniard, born in New York, is now ranked at world number nine and recently made the quarter-finals at the Berlin Grass Court Championships.
Boulter, who is one of many British players competing in the Wimbledon first round, made the quarter-finals at the Nottingham Open after a round of 16 appearance at the Queen’s Club Championships.
Boulter, who recently lost her British number one status to Emma Raducanu, discussed her thoughts ahead of the titanic clash against Badosa.
Katie Boulter says Paula Badosa would not have wanted to play her in the Wimbledon first round
Speaking to the media ahead of her Wimbledon first-round match, Boulter said she was hoping for a better draw.
Boulter said: “Yeah, I mean, I think it’s… I’ve got a little bit of a combination at the moment.
“I think obviously, when you look at a draw you hope for a better draw, you hope for a non-seed and obviously there’s a lot of draws like that, but unfortunately, I don’t have that.”
Despite Boulter’s disappointment regarding the draw, she remained upbeat about her Wimbledon chances.
The 28-year-old boasts high-profile victories, including beating former Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova to retain the Nottingham Open title in 2024.
Boulter continued: “And obviously that is the privilege of being seeded, but at the same time, I do feel like I can play very well on these courts and I don’t think that a seed is going to want to see me in their part of the draw either for a first round.
“So I do kind of… I do have a lot of emotions that I’m very, very, like excited and, you know, I feel like it’s a totally different situation for me coming in this year. I’m not seeded, I’m kind of like a dark horse and I like that feeling.
“I do like the fact that I can go out and swing free and I’ve got nothing to lose. So, yeah, I’m really looking forward to that match.
“I know how good she can be as well. She’s one of the best in the world. It’s why she’s got that ranking, and it’s just a chance for me to kind of show what I can do against someone like that.”
If Boulter can pull off the upset, she will face either Belgium’s Greet Minnen or Australia’s Olivia Gadecki in round two.
Paula Badosa beat Katie Boulter in their only previous meeting
Badosa and Boulter have only met once before on the WTA Tour, at the French Open in 2024. Ironically, Badosa was unseeded at the tournament, while Boulter was the number 26 seed.
However, this did not prevent Badosa from taking down the Brit 4-6 7-5 6-4.
After defeating Boulter, Badosa dismissed Kazakhstan’s Yulia Puntiseva 4-6 6-1 7-5, before losing to second seed Aryna Sabalenka 5-7 1-6.
Badosa will be hoping to improve her Wimbledon record at this year’s championships, having never made it past the round of 16.
Meanwhile, Boulter has never made it past the third round, having reached that stage in 2022 and 2023.
