KATIE BOULTER crashed out to lucky loser Solana Sierra – and could not even blame misfortune on it.
The British No2 had a shocker for the majority of her 1hr53mins out on a half-empty Court No1, save for an impressive first-set fightback.
Katie Boulter was out of sorts against her lucky loser opponent[/caption]
Solana Sierra produced a brilliant performance on No1 Court[/caption]
That revival had seen Boulter go from 5-2 down to win 7-6, thanks to a tie-break.
And from then the supporters who had turned up were half-expecting a comfortable victory for the Leicester-born London resident.
But it did not turn out that way as an inspired Sierra capitalised on Boulter’s catalogue of errors to come through 6-7 6-2 6-1.
The Argentine, 21, had lost in qualifying and was only in the SW19 main draw after being randomly selected to replace an injured player.
She certainly made the most of it and was much the better, more consistent, of the two players, setting up a third-round tie with Spaniard Cristina Busca.
As for Boulter, she will look back ruefully on a complacent display which saw her lay down 14 double faults and 36 unforced errors.
It was chalk and cheese compared to her impressive victory in the first round over No9 seed Paula Badosa, which had shown what she is capable of on her day.
But the world No43 was nowhere near at that level against a much-lower ranked opponent in this second round, and paid for it dearly.
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Sierra revealed after her victory that she has had to move the house in which she is staying during the championships several times already because she did not expect to be here this long.
And now she and her mother, who is staying with her, will have to switch residences again given she is into round three.
The Argentine explained: “I lost in the third round of qualies so we already changed three times the apartment and now we are going to change again!
“But we said it’s a good problem.
“It feels amazing. I knew it was a really tough match, Katie is an amazing player, so I just tried to focus on myself and enjoy this moment. It’s a dream to play here.”
