Boulter wins despite incident getting under her skin

Katie Boulter earned a win at the Hong Kong Open after an incident that "got under my skin" in the match. The British number one reached the last 16 following a challenging encounter with Viktorija Golubic. Boulter was serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set when she was broken by Golubic. During the game, she expressed her frustration to the umpire when a point was not replayed due to an audible distraction from outside. The incident seemed to unsettle Boulter, and she subsequently lost her next service game. Golubic took advantage, pushing the match to a tie-break and ultimately securing the win with a score of 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).

Reflecting on the match, Boulter commented, "It was interesting. I was playing some really good tennis. I feel like I should have closed it out but a couple of things happened. There was a little bit of interesting judgement which got under my skin a little bit and, usually, I’m pretty good at batting it off but I was a little tired. It’s end of season and it seemed to get to me but lesson learned, I managed to get over the line."

Boulter, who previously defeated world number 89 Golubic in dominant fashion while reaching the semi-finals at the Japan Open last month, was set to face American Claire Liu in the next round.

In other news, Venus Williams suffered her 17th consecutive singles defeat, losing to fellow American Mary Stoiana in the first round in Hong Kong. The 46-year-old, who is currently ranked 597th in the women’s rankings, lost the match with scores of 6-2, 6-3 to the 23-year-old Stoiana, who is ranked 113th. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, has not won a singles match since July 2025, relying on wildcards to compete in WTA tournaments.

In the Paris Masters, Cameron Norrie advanced to the second round with a victory over Matteo Arnaldi from Italy. Norrie’s match ended with scores of 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, marking his first ATP Tour win since August. Norrie stated, "I’m just trying to enjoy my tennis. It’s been a difficult year for me and I don’t really care any more - I just want to play, and play to win." He acknowledged the pressure he had put on himself in the past and emphasized his aim now to enjoy the game.