Siniakova Ends Boulter's Japan Open Run in Osaka
Katie Boulter's run at the Japan Open ended in the semi-finals, where Katerina Siniakova beat her 6-1 6-4 in 85 minutes. BBC Sport reported the result. Boulter lost her chance at a fifth WTA singles title, the top women's tour's main prize for a single player's wins.
Boulter, the eighth seed (a ranking given to the best players so they avoid meeting early), had reached the last four by beating Antonia Ruzic 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals. The Island Packet carried the scoreline. The win came after a shaky start. Boulter hit four double faults, serves that miss both chances and hand the point away, across the first two sets. BBC Sport also reported that she won just 60% of the points played after her first serve landed.
Siniakova was unseeded, meaning she was not given one of the protected places in the draw. She is the doubles world number one, so she already ranks at the top of the game's pairs event. She is now bidding for her first singles title in four years. Her opponent in Sunday's final will be Ashlyn Krueger, the 2023 champion in Osaka.
Krueger reached the final by beating top seed Ann Li 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3. The second set went to a tiebreak, a short play-off game that starts when a set reaches 6-6. Li won that tiebreak 7-4, but Krueger took the final set 6-3.
The result also moves the world rankings. Sonay Kartal had moved above Boulter by reaching the final of the Wuhan Open. Boulter's run to the last four in Osaka will put her back above Kartal when the rankings are next updated, according to BBC Sport.
The Japan Open is a WTA 250 event, one of the smaller tournaments on the women's tour, so the points on offer are fewer than at the bigger events. For Boulter, the week still carried a useful lift in the rankings. For Siniakova, the final is a chance to win a singles title she has not claimed since 2022.
Sunday's final pits a doubles specialist who came in unseeded against a former champion who has already beaten the tournament's top seed. Both players have something to prove on the same court, and one of them will leave Osaka with the trophy.
