Cincinnati Open 2024: Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart crash out on bad day for Brits
Updated 14/08/2024 at 08:37 GMT+1
Britain's Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart were both beaten in the first round of the 2024 Cincinnati Open on Tuesday. Boulter moved a set ahead before losing in three to Poland's Magda Linette, while Dart was also beaten in a decider against Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva. It means there are no Brits left in the women's singles draw, while Jack Draper is due to get his tournament started today.
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It was a bad day for the Brits on Tuesday at the Cincinnati Open as both Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart were beaten in the opening round.
British No. 1 Boulter, who also exited in the first round at the Olympics, comfortably took the opening set against Poland’s Magda Linette before being bageled in the second and losing a tight decider to go down 6-2 0-6 5-7.
It was a similar story for Dart, who came through two qualifiers to make the main draw. She also won the first set before her opponent, Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, emphatically hit back to seal a 4-6 6-0 6-1 victory.
The results mean there are no Brits left in the women’s singles draw, while Jack Draper faces Spain’s Jaume Munar in the first round of the men’s singles on Wednesday.
Defeat continued Boulter’s up-and-down summer form. The world No. 30 won the Nottingham Open in June but has since reached just one quarter-final.
She lost to Dart in the second round at Wimbledon and then saw her Olympic hopes fall at the first hurdle against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
Cincinnati offered Boulter a chance to reignite her season and she got off to the perfect start, racing into a 4-0 lead and convincingly moving a set ahead.
But world No. 43 Linette roared back to bagel Boulter and take the contest into a decider. Linette made it eight games in a row when she took a 2-0 lead but Boulter restored parity at 4-4.
The Brit then saved two match points at 4-5 before succumbing on the third to suffer a bruising defeat.
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Dart’s encounter against Putintseva followed a similar pattern. She broke twice early en route to taking the first set before her opponent dished out a bagel in the second.
Dart then broke in the first game of the decider but Putintseva reeled off six in a row from there to complete the victory.
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