- Boulter has yet to get past the third round at a major despite his good form.
Katie Boulter's barren run at the Grand Slam stage continues after losing in the second round of the Australian Open.
The 22nd seed was defeated 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 by Russia's Veronika Kudermetova and has yet to get past the third round at a major.
For a player of her quality and ability to hit the ball that is not enough and she knows it. Boulter has promised to prioritize the Slams this year, but will have to wait until May and the French Open for another chance.
Her fiancée Alex de Minaur watched over her on court 3. Their first round matches overlapped, so de Minaur only had a chance to sneak into the later matches. This time he closed out his 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Tristan Boyer and was in Boulter's box from the start, incognito in a black cap and hoodie, sitting between his future mother-in-law Susan and Boulter's coach. Biljana Veselinovic.
On paper, it looked like a fairly easy draw in the second round against the world number 75, who before this week had not won a Grand Slam match since Wimbledon 2023.
But Kudermatova is a former world number 9 and her potential level is still high. He landed 80 percent of his first serves in the first half of the first set to take a 5-2 lead.
Katie Boulter eliminated from Australian Open in second round as her shaky Grand Slam record continues
Opponent Veronika Kudermetova (right) sometimes struggled to stay fit, but showed her class.
The British number 1 was watched by his fiancee Alex de Minaur, who has already secured her place in the third round.
Boulter saved three set points and then hit a backhand return down the line to recover one of the two breaks and on the next change Kudermetova called the coach, indicating pain in her chest.
Boulter took the opportunity to chat with Veselinovic and hit some serves and when he broke comfortably for 5-5 he looked likely to take the set. But Kudermetova re-stabilized herself and played an impeccable tiebreaker.
It's difficult to diagnose what problems Kudermetova might have been feeling, but she dipped slightly and, as if on the other end of a see-saw, Boulter's level rose.
He had a break point at the beginning of the third set that could have been decisive. Kudermetova, who had remained quite calm, began to hit and Boulter was left without answers.