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Posted:
31st January 2023 - 3:54pm
“When the tennis was hectic, Loughborough College gave me the opportunity to focus on my studies; it provided structure which I needed.”
British Tennis star Katie Boulter is quiet about her goals for 2023 as she continues to build her professional career on the WTA, but says she is thankful for the grounding her time at Loughborough College gave her.
“I took my first tennis lessons in Loughborough when I was dinky, and then when I got older, I’d be allowed out of school to practice and use Loughborough’s incredible facilities” “whilst I was at College, I’d learn but also train, getting inspiration from the Team GB Athletes at the University over the road really pushed me on.”
Boulter won a significant tournament in the build-up to this year’s curtain raiser, the Australian Open. She secured a win in the ITF W60 Canberra final before her grand slam qualifiers and knows it’s a good way to open her account ahead of a busy period.
“It’s important to get a good start in Australia, and I played a tournament before the Australian Open and won it. The goal this year is to play matches, and that’s what I did out there. I’ve started well, and now I need to keep working hard.”
Last year Boulter made it to the last 32 at Wimbledon, capturing the nation's hearts as she devoted her winning run to her late Grandmother, who sadly passed away the week of the British blue riband event; she adds that she’s focused on the here and now.
“I want to be happy and healthy firstly, but I also aspire to get into the top 50 in the world but am focused on staying in the present.”
When asked about her spare time, Boulter played down the international athlete profile “being on tour, I can be pretty boring. I have a boyfriend who plays too, so we like to spend time together, we go hiking and discover some cities we go to on the tour, but we often recover and watch a Netflix series together.”
The Woodhouse Eaves based star is currently ranked 120 in the world in a career which still has time on its side, given her tender age of 26. She had a message for the educational staff that helped her during her time at Loughborough College “I appreciate all the staff at the college who helped in so many different ways. I don’t have a normal lifestyle, but they were great to me.”
“Loughborough is a really good educational getaway to learn new things. I have travelled a lot and am pretty street smart, but the education things I find interesting and college gave me a chance. Thank you, Loughborough College.”
Photo: "2018 Birmingham - Wednesday Heather Watson & Katie Boulter (41117815240)" by Peter Menzel is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.