Awkward moment British women’s tennis player runs to the net and screams with delight thinking she’s won a match – only to discover she still has three points to go
- Katie Boulter fist-pumped to celebrate what she thought was the winning point
- But the new ‘super tie-break’ rule seemed to have slipped her mind on Monday
- She had won the seventh point of the tie-break when she needed to win ten
- Australian Open officials changed rules to put an end to marathon final sets
A British tennis player celebrated with an exultant fist pump thinking she had won her first round match at the Australian Open – only to realise she had forgotten about a tweak in the tournament’s rule book.
The new ‘super tie-break’ seemed to have slipped the mind of Great Britain’s No.2 Katie Boulter on Monday as she closed in on victory against Russian player Ekaterina Makarova.
A change in format in Melbourne means players tied at 6-6 in games in the final set must reach ten points to win tie-break rather than the conventional seven.
A British tennis player celebrated with an exultant fist pump (pictured) thinking she had won her first round match at the Australian Open – only to realise she had forgotten about a tweak in the tournament’s rule book
Seemingly swept up in the moment after thundering a forehand past her opponent to make it 7-4 in a deciding set tie-break, British No. 2 Katie Boulter shouted out in joy and moved towards the net (pictured) as if to shake Makarova’s hand
But seemingly swept up in the moment after thundering a forehand past her opponent to make it 7-4 in a deciding set tie-break, Boulter shouted out in joy and moved towards the net as if to shake Makarova’s hand.
A challenge from Makarova failed to overturn the umpire’s call that the ball was in – but moments later Boulter’s expression had turned from elation to frustration.
Makarova pulled the score back to 7-6 as she took advantage of the British player’s confusion over the new rules, but Boulter steeled herself from there on.
A challenge from Makarova failed to overturn the umpire’s call that the ball was in – but moments later Boulter’s expression had turned from elation to frustration (pictured)
The Leicestershire-born 22-year-old ended up closing out victory 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (10-6) to earn a spot in the second round.
Following her hard-fought victory, Boulter admitted she simply forgot about the new rule as she focused her energy on outmaneuvering her opponent.
‘I’d actually seen it a lot over Twitter and a lot of people were talking about it,’ she said.
Following her hard-fought victory, Boulter admitted she simply forgot about the new rule as she focused her energy on outmaneuvering her opponent (post-match tweet by Boulter pictured)
Boulter’s memorable victory (pictured in action against Makarova on Monday) was the lone bright spot on an otherwise miserable day for British women’s tennis as Heather Watson and Harriet Dart both lost their singles match-ups
‘I’m fully focused in everything that I’m doing and staying in the process and it’s very difficult to think about that, when it’s a new rule.’
Boulter’s memorable victory was the lone bright spot on an otherwise miserable day for British women’s tennis as Heather Watson and Harriet Dart both lost their singles match-ups.
The new 10-point tiebreak rule has been put in place to prevent matches continuing until one player is two games clear.
If enforced at the other Grand Slam tournaments, the rule would mean the historic 70-68 final set victory by singles player John Isner over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 will never be matched again.