On the hunt for a third WTA Tour final of the campaign, Katie Boulter squares up to Yuan Yue in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open on Saturday.
The British number one bagelled Russia's Anastasia Zakharova en route to another final-four appearance, while her sixth-seeded foe eliminated former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
Match preview
© Imago
Underlining her credentials as the golden girl of British tennis, three-time WTA Tour champion Boulter is poised for a second-straight semi-final appearance on the WTA Tour after coming so close yet so far at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Kenin denied her a fourth top-level career final last month, but the 28-year-old has been near-flawless during her barnstorming Hong Kong campaign so far, reaching the final four without dropping a single set in any of her three matches.
After eliminating Aoi Ito and Wang Xiyu from the earlier rounds, Boulter was given another stern test of her credentials when she squared up to Russian Zakharova, ranked 113th in the world, but an exemplary second set allowed Boulter to come through 6-4 6-0.
The solid second seed fired five aces and saved both break points that Zakharova managed to fashion in the quarter-final clash, surviving a couple of scares in the seventh game of the first set before going on the warpath, winning the final eight games of the match.
Should the world number 29 right her Toray Pan Pacific wrongs and set up a final showdown with Diana Shnaider or Leylah Fernandez, history will be on her side, as she is three for three in WTA Tour finals from Nottingham 2023, San Diego 2024 and Nottingham 2024.
© Imago
While Boulter boasts a perfect sequence from her three top-level championship matches so far, upcoming foe Yuan was bested by Jessica Pegula in her first final in Korea last year, before conquering the ATX Open in March for her inaugural WTA Tour crown.
Fast-forward almost eight months, and the world number 45 is back in a top-level semi-final for the first time since her Texas triumph, and she has more than earned her spot in the last four in Hong Kong by taking down some previous major winners.
The returning Simona Halep was first up for Yuan, who dropped just six games against the former world number one before having to come back from a set down to eliminate Nao Hibino in round two, but Grand Slam lightning then struck twice for the Chinese player.
Indeed, Yuan followed up her 6-3 6-3 beating of Halep with an identical win over Boulter's recent conqueror Kenin in the quarter-finals, utilising her ferocious serve with eight aces in the 80-minute match and also saving each of the American's four break points.
Overcoming the player who dumped Boulter out of the Toray Pan Pacific Open should certainly give the 26-year-old a major psychological edge for Saturday's semi, where her and Boulter will be crossing paths for just the second time at elite level.
Tournament so far
Katie Boulter:
First round: vs. Aoi Ito 6-4 6-4
Second round: vs. Wang Xiyu 7-6[7] 6-4
Quarter-final: vs. Anastasia Zakharova 6-4 6-0
Yuan Yue:
First round: vs. Simona Halep 6-3 6-3
Second round: vs. Nao Hibino 4-6 7-5 6-2
Quarter-final: vs. Sofia Kenin 6-3 6-3
Head To Head
Australian Open (2024) - First round: Boulter wins 7-5 7-6[1]
Boulter and Yuan are reuniting in Hong Kong almost exactly 10 months on from their inaugural battle Down Under, where the British number one defeated her Chinese foe in straight sets in the first round of the US Open.
It was far from a straightforward win for Boulter, though, as she needed nearly two hours to come through 7-5 7-6[1], squandering two match points in the second set before running away with the tie-breaker.
The second seed did not help herself on that day, though, landing just 58% of her first serves and double-faulting on nine occasions, although she made up for those mistakes with 29 winners compared to Yuan's 15.
We say: Boulter to win in three sets
Almost everything that Boulter touches turns to gold at the minute, and the 28-year-old has developed a ruthless streak during the Asian swing, even if she is still guilty of a few too many double faults.
As a result, giant killer Yuan could win some cheap points and is more than capable of taking Boulter all the way to a deciding set, but we still have faith in the British number one to advance to her third final of 2024.
Ben Knapton
