Katie Boulter lifts the lid on her new found fame as British No 1

The August edition of Tatler magazine carries Katie Boulter as its cover star, the newest No 1 in British women’s tennis posing in a chic Ralph Lauren outfit with gold jewellery dangling down.

It is a taste of the spotlight that now shines on Boulter after she replaced Emma Raducanu in the rankings, complete with claiming her first WTA title in Nottingham less than two weeks ago.

Boulter, the 26-year-old from Leicester, is already discovering the attention that accompanies being British No 1. That noise will only be amplified as she heads to the Wimbledon Championships next week as this nation’s leading lady.

Currently in Eastbourne, Boulter sat down to discuss her recent rise, including that Tatler photoshoot. 

‘We can get lost in tennis and I spend my life in sweats and working my a*** off,’ she said, smiling. ‘Sometimes it’s nice to completely switch off and do something totally different and for me, that’s what that was. I have never done anything like that before. I understand there are a lot of eyes on me but at the same time, I feel they are right behind me.’

Boulter and her tennis star boyfriend Alex de Minaur (left) will both be looking to shine at SW19 this year

Boulter explained how she feels like she is ‘in a place that I’m very strong body-wise’

While not wanting to be bogged down by commercial commitments – something for which Raducanu has faced criticism, rightly or wrongly – Boulter suggests she uses these opportunities to boost her confidence. It helps her believe that she belongs at the top of the British rankings and, indeed, on front covers as she faces Barbora Krejcikova, the Czech ranked 10th in the world, in Eastbourne today.

‘Absolutely,’ continued Boulter, who is 88th in the world rankings. ‘I like to think I am a glass half-full kind of person and I try to use that as much as I can. Anything I do, I take the positives from it.

‘I would like to say that I am quite grounded with this stuff. No matter what I am going to do I am going to be working hard, day in, day out. I don’t want to get wrapped up in spending too much time off the court, doing other commitments. I want to stay focused. There is a reason why I deleted social media for a while. I don’t really want to lose track on what I am doing.’

Questioned why she quit Twitter and Instagram, Boulter said: ‘I felt like I spent a lot of time on it and I just wanted to be a little bit more productive. When I went to Japan, I was in my own little bubble because I was away from everything. I had no one to talk to because everyone’s asleep.

‘So it was a natural course where I’ve put my phone down a little more and I ended up liking it.’

Cameron Norrie will be hoping to build on his performance at last year’s tournament after reaching the semi-finals

Boulter, Norrie and Jack Draper (left) are leading the next generation of British tennis stars

Boulter is dating Alex de Minaur, the Australian No 1, with the pair of them being described as ‘the new It couple of tennis’. With his support throughout her injury issues, she is looking to build on her recent success in Nottingham. Her best record at Wimbledon remains a third-round appearance in 2022 and Boulter said: ‘I finally feel like I’m in a place that I’m very strong body-wise and it’s taken multiple years for me to get to that point. It’s not something that happens overnight. These last few weeks have been a testament to how hard I worked to get back up there and how hard my team has worked at the same time.

‘Nothing in life is taken for granted. Last year taught me a lot. I had a few things going on off the court, which most people probably wouldn’t even know about now. And that really changed my perspective. It changed everything that I thought about tennis and now my main goal is to go out and enjoy myself and to not forget that I’m still a little girl who just likes smiling on a tennis court.

‘I’m here as a wildcard and I am very grateful for that and I’m going to go out there and swing and have a go at a player ranked higher than me.’

If Boulter can impress at Wimbledon, even by making the second week, more front covers of magazines are bound to follow.

See the full feature in the August issue of Tatler available via digital download and on newsstands from Thursday 29th June.