Katie Boulter suffers one-sided defeat to Diana Shnaider in Hong Kong Open final - 'You absolutely killed me today'

Katie Boulter's fine run in the Asian hard-court swing came to an abrupt end as she suffered a crushing straight-sets loss in the Hong Kong Open final to world No. 14 Diana Shnaider, 6-1 6-2. The Russian was imperious throughout and needed just an hour and 11 minutes to claim her fourth title of the season, condemning Boulter to her first-ever defeat in a WTA Tour final.

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Katie Boulter suffered a first-ever defeat in a WTA Tour final, losing a one-sided encounter 6-1 6-2 to top seed Diana Shnaider at the Hong Kong Open.

The Russian was dominant throughout, attacking Boulter's misfiring serve and covering every inch of the court, and was a deserved winner of a fourth career title, quipping afterwards that "four is my favourite number".

Despite the nature of the defeat Boulter can look back on a positive week overall in Hong Kong and an excellent season. She secured her highest-ever world ranking, moving up to 23rd, from a previous high of 27.

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"What an incredible week, what an incredible season, you deserve every minute of it. You absolutely killed me today, but I'll get you next time!" Boulter joked at the trophy presentation.

"I've got to say a massive thank you to my team, you guys push me every day to try to be better. I'm sure we're going to bounce back from this one but what a season we've had - thank you."

Boulter had never lost a final before Sunday's contest, lifting her biggest title at the WTA 500 event in San Diego earlier in the year before defending her Nottingham title on the grass in the summer. But she had no answers for Shnaider's brilliance and cut a deflated figure on court in the second set.

"I've been running on an empty tank for seven days now and if it wasn't for you guys I definitely would not be here right now," she told the crowd - who had willed her on - afterwards. "The noise that you've made tonight, I really appreciate it."

Shnaider has enjoyed a meteoric rise this season, winning three titles prior to lifting the Hong Kong trophy, and defeating defending champion and former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez en route to the final. She also claimed women's doubles silver alongside another young prodigy, Mirra Andreeva, at the Paris Olympics this summer.

The 20-year-old, a former US college tennis player, extended her 100% record in Tour finals with an assured display at Victoria Park.

"It feels amazing, four is my favourite number so I hope it will keep going like this season," Shnaider said. "I will do my best and work as hard as I can to achieve this. I'm very happy, it's the last tournament of the season and to finish it here with a trophy, with my family, in this crazy stadium, crazy atmosphere, it's an enjoyable week for me and such a memorable [one].

"My family are my biggest supporters, they are here with me - it's the first title [we're] all together, they're enjoying every win with me. Without them I wouldn't be here."

Shnaider, who achieved a career-best Grand Slam result by reaching the last 16 at the US Open this year, has won titles on all three surfaces on her way to becoming World No. 14.

"I'll keep it a secret!" she laughed, when asked about her ability to adapt her game to clay, grass and hard courts. "I honestly don't know, I feel like the game I have can fit on every surface and I do my best to get ready properly for each surface. It just comes naturally, I'm trying my best to be great on all surfaces."

She broke Boulter in her first service game and raced through her own, expertly moving the Brit around the court and controlling rallies, landing an inch-perfect lob just inside the baseline which Boulter sportingly applauded.

There was little let-up for the second seed, who faced consistent pressure on serve and found herself a double break down in a shade over 20 minutes, while Shnaider did not face a single break point throughout the contest and barely dropped any points on her first serve.

The British No. 1 was unable to take any slight openings, getting to 0-30 on Shnaider's serve in the fifth game, but the Russian shut it down with some more imperious serving and deft winners.

She continued to rush Boulter on serve, earning a set point and threatening to 'bagel', but a skilled display at the net from the 28-year-old and a stunning cross-court winner finally got her on the board for 5-1.

Boulter managed to battle to deuce in Shnaider's next service game but a netted return handed over the set on the Russian's third set point, with her unforced error count nearly double that of Shnaider's.

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Boulter had lost the first set of each of her finals this year, in San Diego to Marta Kostyuk and in Nottingham to Karolina Pliskova, before overcoming them in three - but there was to be no such revival here.

Two double faults in her first service game and some more wayward hitting gifted Shnaider an early break, and the errors again started to pile up as the scoreboard deficit started to dent her confidence. Shnaider continued to be untroubled on her own serve and broke Boulter again to love, dispatching a glorious passing shot with ease.

Boulter held for 4-1 to roars of applause from the crowd, but was under pressure again as she served to stay in the match. Another bad mishit set up a first championship point for Shnaider, but Boulter clawed her way back to deuce and forced the error to make her opponent serve out the match.

Two messy returns by Boulter alleviated any pressure on Shnaider, who continued to look composed, and a net volley sealed the deal in a little over an hour.

"She's a great person and an amazing player," Shnaider said afterwards. "She had an amazing season and I hope she will just take some rest, recover for the next season and come back even stronger and better."

The British No. 1 had said after her semi-final victory over Yue Yuan that she had "nothing to lose" in the final and would "swing free", with the major aim of improving her ranking already achieved.

She will now turn her attention to leading the Great Britain team at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, which begin on November 13.

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