“Tough pill to swallow”: Katie Boulter admits dream may ‘never come true’ after Wimbledon second-round exit

Britain’s Katie Boulter has stated that she is starting to accept that her ‘moment’ might never come after suffering a shocking defeat at Wimbledon. The 28-year-old’s journey at the third Grand Slam of the year came to an end on Wednesday as she lost to Argentina’s Solana Sierra with a score of 6-7, 6-2, 6-1.

The defeat was a shocking one, as in the first round, Boulter had defeated world number nine Paula Badosa with a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Talking after the match, Boulter admitted that she is getting closer to accepting the fact that the moment she has been waiting for might never come. Boulter admitted that the result was a ‘tough pill to swallow’ but vowed to continue working hard and giving herself the best opportunity in the tournaments to come.

"I mean, of course it hurts," said Boulter. "It's a really tough pill to swallow. It always is here. Unfortunately it's just the way that it is. Sometimes I just have to accept that my moment might not come at some point. I'm just going to keep working hard and keep trying my hardest. Ultimately that's all I can do and keep putting myself out there and keep improving every single year.”

Boulter also went to praise her opponent on the day and believes that she was a better player and deserved to advance. “I think you can look at a piece of paper and be like, 'Oh, this is a terrible loss',” she said. “Ultimately, she played better than me on the day. That's how it is. I thought she played a good match. She was hitting it very fast at me. I'm not entirely sure. It's not often that I feel like that. I didn't feel like that against Paula. Even when she was hitting full power, and I would say she's someone who has one of the most powerful shots on tour, I didn't feel the same."