Katie Boulter sets sights on Wimbledon seeding after San Diego Open triumph

The British No. 1 came from a set down to beat Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 5-7 6-2 6-2 and reach a career-high of 27 in the world.

With the way the rankings work, the 27-year-old has few points to defend at this stage of the season, so is aiming to take advantage in order to get more favourable draws in the Grand Slams.

“I have started the year very well and given myself the best opportunity to set myself up for the rest of the year.

“I’ve got a free swing, not too much pressure and I’m just enjoying myself.”

In particular, Boulter hopes to be among the seeds for Wimbledon this July as it will mean she can’t be drawn against another seed until the third round, which is the furthest she’s gone at the tournament and at any of the sport’s marquee events.

“I want to get as close to a seeding as possible,” she added. “It takes time to build more ranking points and get myself to that place.”

Performances like the one in San Diego will help. Never before had Boulter beaten multiple players inside the world’s top 50 in a tournament but she ended that streak in style.

She recorded wins over Lesia Tsurenko, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Donna Vekic and Emma Navarro en route to the final in San Diego.

Boulter lost a close opening set to Kotsyuk before responding emphatically. Cheered on by boyfriend Alex de Minaur, who clinched the ATP Tour title in Acapulco before catching a 6am flight to be in attendance, she forced a decider and went on to seal the win in style.

“I don’t know what just happened,” she said. “This week has been very, very special for so many different reasons. This one is pretty amazing, I’ve worked very hard for it. I played some incredible tennis all week.

“A lot of it was about me staying as tough as I possibly could mentally, and I managed to keep my cool and actually kind of went within myself and calmed myself down a lot.

“I want to say a small special thank you to my boyfriend. He finished last night at midnight and I really want to embarrass him.

“He got in a 4:15am taxi this morning and six o’clock flight to be here today, so I do appreciate it.”

Also in action at Indian Wells is Emma Raducanu, who has been drawn against a qualifier but could face Aryna Sabalenka in the second round.