Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart crash out of Cincinnati after three-set capitulations

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter

Published: August 14 2024 | 08:05

Last updated: August 14 2024 | 20:51

British bagels: Boulter, Dart crumble in Cincinnati Open exits

British duo Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart both suffer gut-wrenching exits at the Cincinnati Open to Magda Linette and Yulia Putintseva respectively.

British number one Katie Boulter and number three Harriet Dart both suffered chastening three-set defeats in the first round of the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday,

Both players won the opening set of their clashes, with Boulter taking on Magda Linette and Dart squaring up to Yulia Putintseva, only to suffer second-set bagels and come up short in the crucial third.

Boulter went down 6-2 0-6 5-7 to her Polish foe in one hour and 53 minutes, while Dart - who came through qualifying to earn her spot in the main draw - was defeated 6-4 0-6 1-6 in her clash with Putintseva.

Only a few days before opening her Cincinnati campaign, Boulter had given a respectable account of herself against Aryna Sabalenka in the Canadian Open, where she fashioned numerous chances to break the Australian Open winner only for wastefulness to let her down.

The British number one rectified those mistakes by storming into a 4-0 lead against Linette, who saved two set points on her own serve but could ultimately do nothing to prevent Boulter from taking the opener.

However, a calamitous collapse then followed for Boulter, as Linette subjected the world number 30 to an astounding bagel in the second set, taking all three break points she brought up before Boulter also lost serve straight off the bat in the decider.

Harriet Dart pictured in June 2024 © Imago

After losing nine games on the spin, the 28-year-old finally got on the board and even levelled the third set with a break back, but while serving for a tie-breaker, Boulter failed to beat away Linette's first match point.

While the British number one largely held her own in the third set, it was a different story for Dart, who suffered her third straight defeat in WTA main-draw matches despite also exploding out of the blocks against Putintseva.

Suffering the same fate as her compatriot, Dart failed to win a single game in the second set, although she showed a flicker of recovery by breaking the Kazakhstani's serve straight off the bat in the third set.

However, Putintseva responded emphatically with another six-game winning sequence as Dart crumbled, also failing to convert two break points while the world number 34 was serving for the match.

Which British players are left in Cincinnati?

With Boulter and Dart - who missed out on a second-round affair with Coco Gauff - now packing their bags, Great Britain have no players left in the women's singles competition, as Emma Raducanu failed to receive a wild card and opted against going through qualifying.

Cameron Norrie withdrew from the men's tournament too, meaning that Jack Draper is the only British hope left in the Masters tournament; the 22-year-old faces Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar in his first-round match on Wednesday.