The clash of the Brit queens: Dart vs Boulter at Wimbledon with no love lost between the pair

All eyes on a British point of view will be on Harriet Dart and Katie Boulter on Thursday afternoon who will face off in a Brit battle for the ages at Wimbledon. Albeit with the duo certainly having no love lost with a simmering tension between the pair.

Both 27, Dart and Boulter have spent all of their careers being in the same bubble with their mothers also meeting as players in their own careers as tennis players. Differing reports say that both Dart and Boulter are friends and that they also don't like each other. Whether or not that is the case means little on the tennis court between the pair with them both going for the win whenever they play.

Boulter in particular has shone and stole the spotlight. Amid Emma Raducanu's injury travails, Boulter has ascended to become the queen of British tennis. A role that at one point looked to be reserved for Dart who like many British players over the years has been lauded but not produced.

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In their senior outings, they have met seven times. It has been really one sided with Boulter beating Dart all but one time during their career. The latter has only one victory and that came on hard court over a British favoured grass. But their meetings have often been fractious and they had a dramatic one last year at the Nottingham Open.

Boulter celebrated the Quarter-Final win and Dart thought that she did so a little bit too much. She took issue with Boulter jabbing her finger at her temple in the direction of the players box. Boulter denied it being aimed at Dart and the latter called her 'unprofessional'. The Leicester ace said that she does it in every match and the tie against Dart wasn't cause for anything personal.

Harriet Dart pictured has always struggled against Boulter and there is no love lost between the pair.

They met again at Nottingham in recent weeks with Boulter's winner being deemed out by Dart. 'No way!' Dart shouted across court. 'The ball was so far out.'

Dart repeatedly protested and called it embarrassing and that she was embarrassing herself before receiving a caution. 'No way!' Dart exclaimed. 'The ball was so far out. It's a joke how far that ball was out."

Boulter went on to win the match and in reality Dart's protest meant little given that she lost anyway but it goes to show the fractious nature of the duo.

'Playing a Brit in the UK on the grass is never an easy draw and I’m expecting an absolute battle,' Boulter said on Monday.  

'I do have to draw on the last things that I have played with her and use that to my advantage in the next round. I think it's going to be extremely tough. I have a lot of respect for her on this surface. It's one of her favorite ones.

'This is actually her home club. She's been here since she was a tiny tot with her mum.'

While Dart takes a different tone saying that she has nothing to lose in a match where she doesn't do well.

'I have nothing to lose, that's for sure,' Dart said. 'For me, a big goal was just trying to get through round one. Last year was I would say heartbreaking for me, but also put me in a place where I had to dig deep towards the end of the year. I always think things happen for a reason. They definitely did. This year, I'm very much focusing much more on the process, how if I can play some good tennis, I can give myself the best opportunity to play well, to put myself in a position to win matches. That's kind of all I can do.'

In addition, Jack Draper will face Cameron Norrie on Thursday afternoon. But it will be a more meek affair between the pair with no sort of needle or hate between the pair. Boulter has often bested the pair but can Dart cause a Wimbledon shock?

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