Boulter Through Despite Tie-Break Blunder - (2025)

Katie Boulter says she is “pretty proud of herself” after overcoming a brain freeze and Ekaterina Makarova to reach the Australian Open second round.

Britain’s Katie Boulter will hope to remember the rules against 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round of the Australian Open after beating Ekaterina Makarova in round one (Boulter 11/2, Sabalenka 1/10 – Match Betting).

Boulter, 22, came through 6-0 4-6 7-6 (10-6) on Monday but only after an embarrassing moment when she forgot that third-set tie-breaks are played to 10 points.

The Leicester-born youngster thought she had won the match when reaching seven points in the breaker but had to claim another three before completing the victory over the 2015 semi-finalist.

“I ended up getting the win, I probably would have been devastated had I not,” she said. “But I’ve got to take it light-heartedly now. At least I know the rule now.

“It’s very tough to turn around because you’ve released and think you’ve won the match. Then you have to get back to work and dig deep. I’m pretty proud of myself.”

Next up on Wednesday is Belarussian 11th seed Sabalenka, who beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-1 6-4.

The 20-year-old is an 11/1 third favourite in the women’s betting despite limited experience in the big four events and just one outing in the main draw last year.

“I’m so happy to pass the first round here,” she said after the match. “I’m so excited to be on this level. It wasn’t an easy match. She’s (Kalinskaya) a great player, and it’s not easy to play against her in a first round.”

Britain’s Heather Watson and Harriet Dart were first-round casualties while Johanna Konta begins her tournament against Ajla Tomljanovic in the early hours of Tuesday morning UK time (Konta 4/5, Tomljanovic Evens – Match Betting).

Odds subject to change.