Katie Boulter has set her sights on pushing further up the rankings after winning the biggest title of her career.
The British number one defeated five top-40 players to win the San Diego Open, bringing her a first WTA 500 trophy and elevating her ranking to 27.
With Cameron Norrie slipping to 28, it means Boulter is the highest-ranked British singles player of either gender heading into the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which begins on Wednesday.
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The same week a year ago, Boulter was ranked outside the world’s top 150, and she does not have many points to defend until the grass-court tournament in Nottingham in June, where last year she picked up her first WTA title.
“I feel like I’ve started the year very well and I’ve given myself the best opportunity to set myself up for the rest of the year,” said 27-year-old Boulter.
“I’ve got a free swing, I don’t really have too much pressure. I’m just here enjoying myself and working as hard as I possibly can with a great team. You never know what could happen so I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”
The weekend was made even more special for Boulter by the success of boyfriend Alex De Minaur, who successfully defended his title in Acapulco on Saturday before catching an early morning flight to cheer on the British star.
They join the likes of former couples Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert and Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijsters in winning titles on the same weekend, and Boulter said: “I think that is very cool.
“I had no idea other people had done it. To share something with my other half is going to be something that we won’t forget.”
While the two titles both earned their recipients 500 ranking points, De Minaur took home around £325,000 and Boulter just £112,000, highlighting the continuing disparity between the ATP and WTA Tour away from the biggest joint events.
Boulter has mixed feelings, saying: “I’m obviously very happy with my first WTA 500 title, not too many players can say that they’ve won a 500 so I feel very special.
“Regarding the prize money, I feel like there’s a lot of equality in our sport in the biggest events. I really hope that the WTA can continue to help bridge the gap between the other events.”
There is parity in Indian Wells, where the tours come together at a big event for the first time since the Australian Open.
Boulter’s elevation to the top 30 comes too late to earn her a seeding and she will be back in action on Wednesday against dangerous Italian Camila Giorgi.
If she can maintain or improve her ranking through to the French Open and Wimbledon, she will earn herself a seeding, meaning she would not face a player in the top 32 until at least the third round.
“It’s definitely an aim of mine,” said Boulter. “I want to make sure that I can get as close to a seeding as possible. At the moment I’m in but it takes time to build more ranking points and to get myself to that place.
“Every single place in the ranking counts and I’ve just got to do my best because obviously it makes a difference as to who you play in the tournaments.”
Boulter is joined in the Indian Wells draw by Emma Raducanu, who has been given a wild card and will take on a qualifier in the first round.
Raducanu enjoyed one of her best weeks in the Californian desert last year, defying the wrist problems that subsequently forced her to go under the knife to reach the fourth round.
Norrie has a bye in the men’s event as the 28th seed while Andy Murray plays a qualifier, Jack Draper meets Christopher O’Connell and Dan Evans plays Roman Safiullin.
Rafael Nadal returns to the tour for the first time since suffering a muscle injury in Brisbane in January and will take on fellow veteran Milos Raonic, while Novak Djokovic makes his first appearance in Indian Wells for five years following the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions.
Alcaraz's pursuit for third straight Madrid Open crown continues by defeating Seyboth Wild
Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.
Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.
The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.
Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Data debrief
With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.
Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.
Rybakina eases past Sherif to reach Madrid Open last 16
Elena Rybakina cruised past Mayar Sherif in straight sets to reach the last 16 of the Madrid Open on Sunday.
World number four Rybakina rarely looked like being troubled by Sherif, easing to a 6-1 6-4 triumph, winning 22 of her 26 first-serve points on her way to victory.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion broke Sherif's serve twice in the first set to gain control of the match, before holding her serve five times in the second to ensure victory.
Also into the last 16 in Madrid are Yulia Putintseva and Daria Kasatkina, who beat Caroline Dolehide and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova respectively, both in straight sets. However, world number seven and reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova is out after she was upset by Mirra Andreeva, losing 7-5 6-1.
Data debrief
In reaching the Madrid Open last 16, Rybakina again showed her class on clay. Her victory over Sherif saw her become only the fourth player in the last 10 years to win 14 straight WTA matches on clay, alongside Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Iga Swiatek.
Additionally, Rybakina's 475 winners at WTA-1000 events in 2024 are 112 more than the next best, Danielle Collins with 363.
Madrid Open: Nadal roars to victory against De Minaur
Rafael Nadal delighted his home fans at the Madrid Open as he roared to an impressive victory over Alex de Minaur on Saturday.
The Spaniard battled to a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory to earn his first win over a top-20 player in the world rankings since the ATP Finals back in 2022.
De Minaur had beaten Nadal last week in Barcelona, but the five-time Madrid champion was not to be denied this time in front of a crowd which included King Felipe VI along with football stars Zinedine Zidane and Vinicius Jr.
Emerging triumphant from an epic 77-minute opening set proved decisive, with Nadal more comfortable in the second as De Minaur missed an opportunity to become the first player to beat him in consecutive weeks since Novak Djokovic achieved the feat way back in 2011.
Nadal will take on Pedro Cachin in the third round after the Argentine dumped out Fances Tiafoe in three sets.
"I'm super happy to be able to be competitive against a great player like Alex and play over two hours," Nadal said, per the ATP Tour website.
"It means a lot to me and the atmosphere here is just a joke, so I can't thank enough everybody here.
"It still needs time [until I am back to my best]. I think for moments it has been a good level of tennis. I was able to do positive things, but still on and off.
"But I really believe that tennis hasn't been an issue for the last two years. More the physical issues.
"If I am able to play weeks in a row and if I am able to play tennis, then I'm going to see how far I can go and how competitive I could be. But that's not the case yet, just step by step and let's see how I recover."
Elsewhere at the tournament, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, playing as the top seed at a Masters 1000 event for the first time, cruised to victory over fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego to start his campaign in style.
It took Sinner just 69 minutes to win 6-0 6-3 and improve to 26-2 in a remarkable 2024 season so far.
“I know Lorenzo quite well and we have a good friendship off the court, we play Davis Cup together, we practise a lot together,” Sinner said.
“The mental side was a little bit different than it used to be, so I'm just happy how I handled the situation. He didn't play at his best. I think we saw this. I wish him all the best for the rest of the season.”
Progress was harder to come by for Daniil Medvedev as he lost the opening set to Matteo Arnaldi, though the third seed eventually battled through 2-6 6-4 6-4 to book a third-round clash with American Sebastian Korda.
There was a surprise result, though, with Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro ending the fine recent form of Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4 6-4 victory.
Tsitsipas was 10-1 on clay this year going into the match, but the sixth seed crashed to a shock defeat just a week after Monteiro had lost in the first round of a Challenger Tour event in Portugal, marking a rapid reversal of his fortunes.
“Every week you have a new opportunity," said Monteiro. “These past few weeks I wasn’t feeling really good on the court. I was trying to do well at Challengers but it didn’t work.
“I just kept up the hard work, day by day. Even when I was not feeling good and not winning matches, I kept believing in myself, and this week it has paid off.
"For sure one of the biggest wins of my career. I knew it was a really tough match and I tried to just believe in myself all the time."
Sunday’s matches will see Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz continue his campaign with a third-round clash against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
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