Tag Archives: Katie Boulter

Solana Sierra Makes History By Advancing to Fourth Round at Wimbledon

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Solana Sierra continues her Cinderella run at Wimbledon.

The 21-year-old Argentine tennis player, who was out of the competition a week ago at the All England Club, has become the first ‘lucky loser’ in the Open Era to reach the women’s singles fourth round at Wimbledon.

Solana SierraLucky losers are players who lost in qualifying but end up in the main draw if others withdraw.

Sierra only got 15 minutes’ notice before her first-round match that she’d be playing, following an injury to Belgium’s Greet Minnen.

And Sierra has grasped her opportunity with both hands, beating Cristina Bucsa 7-5 1-6 6-1 in the third round on Friday.

“I remember I was really sad that day [I lost in qualifying], and today is like the best day of my life,” she told BBC Sport.

“So it’s been really crazy. Seven days ago, I was out of the tournament, right now I’m into the second week. So it’s really crazy, and I’m just super happy.”

She is the first Argentinian woman since Paola Suarez in 2004 to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon.

By getting to that stage, Sierra will take home a minimum of £240,000 in prize money, adding considerably to her £330,000 career earnings until this point.

“[I feel] super lucky,” said the world number 101, who beat Britain’s Katie Boulter in the second round. “But I think I also take the opportunity, and I really want to keep going and to keep dreaming in this tournament.”

Sierra has picked up her fourth different room key as she keeps up her historic progress at the grass-court Grand Slam.

Sierra has extended her latest accommodation booking until Tuesday, which means if she beats Germany’s Laura Siegemund on Sunday, she will still have somewhere to stay until the quarterfinals.

While Sierra is the first woman to achieve the feat, there have been five lucky losers to reach the men’s singles fourth round, most recently Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in 2024.

And there is a lucky loser impressing in the men’s singles this year too.

The 2021 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Marton Fucsovics beat Gael Monfils over five sets, and across two days, to reach the third round.

The Hungarian, who said he had gone from “hell to heaven” since losing in qualifying, will play the American 10th seed Ben Shelton on Saturday.

Paula Badosa Rallies to Upset Daria Kasatkina & Reach Third Round at Wimbledon

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Paula Badosa has pulled off a special upset…

The 26-year-old Spanish professional tennis player rallied from a break down in the final set to snap Daria Kasatkina‘s seven-match win streak and advance to the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.

Paula Badosa,The former World No.2 came back from 4-2 down in the third set to win 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 51 minutes.

“I know it’s not my first time in the second week of a Grand Slam,” Badosa said on court, “but for me it’s a special one because a few months ago I didn’t know if I could play tennis anymore. So to be here is very special.”

Badosa did not hold back tears after the hard-fought win, which put her into Wimbledon’s second week for the third time in her career and first since the debilitating back injury that has plagued her since the start of 2023. It was the same stress fracture that forced her retirement from Wimbledon 12 months ago and shut down the remainder of her season.

Badosa choked back the tears as the crowd gave her a rousing ovation for her efforts.

“One of the reasons I come back on the court is for you guys,” Badosa told the crowd. “Hearing my name and cheering for me, it’s really for you guys. I really feel the love.”

Badosa returned to competition in January but the struggles were evident. In the first four months of the year, she won back-to-back matches just once, exacerbated by three in-match retirements.

“In Indian Wells, the doctors told me it would be very complicated to continue my career,” Badosa said on the WTA Insider Podcast.

“I said, ‘A few more years? I’m still 26.’ For me that was very tough.”

But with the help of cortisone shots and a refusal to let her career whittle away, Badosa quietly built up belief in her body and her tennis once again. Her run to the Round of 16 in Rome, where she beat Mirra Andreeva, Emma Navarro and Diana Shnaider before taking Coco Gauff to a third set, was a huge catalyst. Then came two wins over Katie Boulter and Yulia Putintseva at Roland Garros.

She came into Wimbledon after making her first quarterfinal of the season, on the grass at Bad Homburg. That run put her back in the Top 100 at No.93.

Badosa has played like a woman renewed at SW19. It began with clinical wins over Karolina Muchova and Brenda Fruhvirtova. That set up a true gut-check against Rothesay International champion Kasatkina, who was bidding to extend her win streak to a personal-best eight matches.

After a delayed start due to rain, Badosa raced to a 3-0 lead before Kasatkina slowly and methodically reeled her in. After trailing 5-2, Kasatkina won three consecutive games and saved three set points to keep the set in the balance, but Badosa surged from 5-5 in the tiebreak to take the set.

Kasatkina struck back in the second set with a timely break in the 10th game to take the set and rode that momentum to a 4-2 lead in the decider. But the Eastbourne champion failed to consolidate the break and Badosa was off and running. With more aggressive, disciplined hitting, the Spaniard won the last four games to seal her first Top 20 win in over a year.

“I’ve always been very tough mentally and a fighter, so I was going to do it anyway,” Badosa said. “So for me, I’m very proud that I’ve been through all of this. And now that I’m, again, in the fourth round and playing good level again, because sometimes also when I came back at the beginning of the year and struggling so much, my level wasn’t there. I feel myself so far away. Now seeing myself back at it, it means a lot.”