Katie Boulter left in tears during press conference as Brit woes confounded with defeat to Tyra Grant at Wimbledon

Tuesday, 30 June 2026 at 15:59

Katie Boulter was left in tears as she was asked if it was still going to be the best month of her life after a crushing Wimbledon defeat to Tyra Grant in just 66 minutes. Albeit with the solace that she will marry Alex de Minaur after the tournament.

Boulter was the latest Brit to fall in what has been a true aberraiton for the home hopes and also a damning indictment for the organisers who not only lost Raducanu, Draper among others due to injury but amid call outs about wildcards, the LTA perhaps have questions to answer.

Boulter qualifies by right, but was downed by a fearless American born Italian who has long been seen as a future star and at 18 has the chance to produce that. A real interesting story in her father being a former NBA player who travelled around Europe playing the game, Grant has been given wildcards in the past to Rome among others. But now makes her mark at Grand Slam level.

“I think this is the most challenging part about tennis. It's so difficult to feel satisfied. I think it's something you keep trying to strive for, but yeah…” she replied after being asked if it was still the best month of her life. “Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. I can assure you it's going to be the best day of my life in a while. Not today, yeah.”

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Albeit Boulter was unsure if she will play the mixed doubles with her soon to be husband at the Championships as she said that her only current plans revolve around women's doubles with Heather Watson.

“I don't think I'm playing mixed, that I know of. I haven't had that conversation. He's on court. Not that I know of that I'm playing mixed doubles. I'm playing women's doubles with Heather Watson,” she said.

She continued that it hurts more in reality that it is Wimbledon as only Katie Swan was able to win a match earlier on Tuesday as further Brits continued to fall. As of time of writing, Jacob Fearnley is fighting back in his tie but feasibly could be the next to lose.

Boulter wants to move on quickly after crushing loss

In reality Boulter was one of the final main hopes for the Brits with Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu out, Cameron Norrie lost and Sonay Kartal is out long term with injury so none of their fellow top names could get through or even to the starting line.

But it is also a blow given that Boulter has rebuilt at times after looking down and out at the turn of the season. “I think this year I have been building extremely well. I think it's one of the only weeks in my whole calendar so far, I have had a really tough week,” she explained.

“Of course it hurts because it's Wimbledon. It just hurts more and it makes it harder for me to deal with and to accept the fact that I didn't bring my best game out there.”

Boulter lost today to Tyra Grant.

Now Boulter said that she doesn't want to sound like a broken record, but that she wants a chance to put it right and that she will soon banish the loss from her mind.

“That is for me to go back and keep building and keep working. It's tough, because you can sometimes sound like a robot, but it's the only thing we know what to do.

“I think if I get wrapped up in this loss, it's going to be tough. It's not going to be easy for me. I will allow myself to take a couple of days and look after my head and maybe go back over the match and see what I could have done better.”

She also reserved praise for Grant who has long been highly touted but had never won on grass even before this week.

“I have to give credit to her, as well. She's a young girl who's swinging, playing some fearless tennis,” Boulter said.

“I think she didn't really give me a look-in. I think maybe a few other players I would have had a few more opportunities on return of serves. I think she served extremely well. I didn't match that. Yeah, I think it's a tough day today.”

Tyra's time 🇮🇹

On her Grand Slam main draw debut, qualifier Tyra Caterina Grant secures the biggest win of her career to move into the second round 👏#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/tqbSUZYzAE
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 30, 2026

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