Boulter eyeing 'free swing' at further success

Britain's Katie Boulter feels like she has a "free swing" at a Wimbledon seeding as she aims to build on winning the biggest title of her career.

Boulter, 27, won the San Diego Open on Sunday, recovering from a set down to beat Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk.

The triumph moved her up to a career-high ranking of 27th and she is eyeing being a top-32 seed at the Grand Slams.

"It makes a difference to who you play in the tournament so it is a huge aim of mine," said Boulter.

After her "very special" win in San Diego, which came on the same weekend as her boyfriend Alex de Minaur claimed the ATP Tour title in Acapulco, Boulter flew straight to Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open.

Boulter plays against Italy's Camila Giorgi in the first round on Wednesday.

She has an opportunity to further improve her ranking, having lost in qualifying at Indian Wells last year and with few points to defend in the next couple of months.

"I have started the year very well and given myself the best opportunity to set myself up for the rest of the year," said Boulter, who is ranked 16th in the WTA race - the rankings based on this season alone as opposed to the 52-week system.

"I've got a free swing, not too much pressure and I'm just enjoying myself."

Earning a seeding at a Grand Slam tournament means a player cannot be drawn against another seed until the third round, therefore - in theory - benefitting from their higher status with a more favourable draw.

At the Australian Open in January, Boulter lost to Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen - who went on to reach the final - in the second round.

Boulter is hoping to be seeded for the clay-court French Open, which starts on 26 May, as she looks to win a main-draw match for the first time.

After Roland Garros, attention turns to the Wimbledon grass - where Boulter has enjoyed her greatest success on the Grand Slam stage so far.

Boulter has reached the last 32 twice, in 2022 and 2023, and hopes a seeding will provide a platform to help her go even further when the tournament starts on 1 July.

"I want to get as close to a seeding as possible. It takes time to build more ranking points and get myself to that place," said Boulter.

Boulter was the emerging and exciting talent in the British women's game, but had to rebuild her career after it was heavily interrupted by injury problems.

In 2019, the Leicester-born player reached a career-high 82nd in the rankings and was on an upward trajectory before she was injured playing for Britain in a Fed Cup tie against Kazakhstan in April.

A stress fracture of the back sidelined her for six months - which she described as an "extremely difficult" period - and led to a long period outside of the world's top 100.

In 2022, Boulter earned the biggest match win of her career by beating former world number one Karolina Pliskova on Centre Court at Wimbledon and has continued to create memorable moments over the past year.

Winning her first WTA title at the Nottingham Open last summer lifted Boulter back into the world's top 100 and has been the catalyst for further success.

She went on to reach the last 32 again at Wimbledon, then reached the same stage of the US Open - the final major of the 2023 season - for the first time.

After losing to Peyton Stearns in the US Open third round, Boulter spoke about how she realised it was her "moment to push on".

Last year's Wimbledon exit against defending champion Elena Rybakina was one of several one-sided defeats against the very best, but she finally earned a victory against a top-five opponent by beating American Jessica Pegula at the United Cup in January.

In San Diego, all of her victories came against players ranked above her in the top 40.

After winning the title, Boulter said: "This week has been very, very special for so many different reasons. This one is pretty amazing, I've worked very hard for it."