One of the great challenges facing professional tennis is the speed at which the sport advances. No matter how great an achievement or how good a player is, a new week brings new games, conditions and, most importantly, new opponents with even more incentive to knock you off the pitch.
Katie Boulter faced off against the odds three days after winning her first WTA 500 title in San Diego and breaking into the world’s top 30, the greatest achievement of her career so far. A challenge. In the first round of Indian Wells, she was quickly knocked down by Camila Giorgi and defeated her 6-3, 6-2 in 78 minutes to advance.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray had his best match of the season, edging out David Goffin 6-3, 6-2 in California to go into second round. Murray, who is trying to find form after a difficult start to the season, will face fifth seed Andrei Rublev in the second round on Friday.
Judging from his condition, Bolt has a good chance of beating the Italian when he enters Indian Wells. The Italian has struggled since last year and dropped out of the top 100 this week, falling to 106th, her lowest ranking since 2013. The 30-player and winner of the WTA 1000 event in Montreal three years ago can hit just about anyone on the sidelines when firing on all cylinders.
Six years ago, before facing Williams in the 2018 Wimbledon quarterfinals, George was asked about his impressions of the 23-time Grand Slam champion’s game. “I don’t like tennis,” she replied. George was focused solely on herself, and there were few players on tour as determined as she was to destroy every ball.
When the 32-year-old is out of form, the results can be disastrous, but Wednesday was one of her shining days. From the start, George controlled the baseline, passing the ball down the wings and forcing Bolt to retreat as she directed most of the exchanges.
With George constantly chipping away at her with such big balls from the wings, the extremely flat Bolt simply couldn’t keep up. Her own errors began to mount, her serve struggled, and she became increasingly passive as the match wore on. Bolt lost her serve early in both sets and spent much of the match trying to hang on but couldn’t get it right.
If the WTA uses this week’s rankings in the main draw, Bolt will be seeded. She has proven she can compete at a high level against top opponents, but the next challenge is learning how to do it this week. This, a week later, regardless of the conditions at the net or the opponent. Thankfully, the fast-paced nature of professional tennis cuts both ways. She’ll get another chance in a few weeks at the Miami Open.
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Jack Draper, meanwhile, was unable to prove himself in a first-round defeat to Australia’s Christopher O’Connell 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 recent progress. Draper arrives in Indian Wells in excellent form having reached the semi-finals in Acapulco last week, beating world No. 14 Tommy Paul to break into the top 20. The 22-year-old lost the final to eventual champion Alex De Minaur and withdrew due to illness.
Earlier, in the California desert, Draper appeared to have carried his excellent form into Indian Wells, finishing the first set effortlessly. But Draper lost his way from the beginning of the second set, the momentum swung sharply, and he immediately fell behind 0-3.
The British player struggled on serve the rest of the match and he paid the price for his passivity on Indian Wells’ notoriously slow courts, where his Australian opponent lured him into too many long stalemates and ended up in Beat him in the last set.
