{"id":199503,"date":"2026-05-25T19:33:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T19:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/25\/gbs-boulter-scrapes-into-french-open-second-round\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T19:33:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T19:33:30","slug":"gbs-boulter-scrapes-into-french-open-second-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/25\/gbs-boulter-scrapes-into-french-open-second-round\/","title":{"rendered":"GB’s Boulter scrapes into French Open second round"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Great Britain’s Katie Boulter avoided an early slip-up in the first round of the French Open as she ground out a gruelling win over American wildcard Akasha Urhobo.<\/b><\/p>\n

Playing on clay has never come easy for Boulter, who only won her first WTA Tour-level match on the surface last year – at the age of 28.<\/p>\n

But she booked her place in the second round at Roland Garros for just the second time with a scrappy 6-4 4-6 6-4 win over 19-year-old Urhobo, who was making her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

Boulter’s reward is a second-round encounter with Austrian 28th seed Anastasia Potapova.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Monday, Boulter’s Australian fiance Alex de Minaur ended Toby Samuel’s breakthrough run after the Briton came through three rounds of qualifying in Paris.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ranked 114 places higher than Urhobo, Boulter was the favourite on paper – but her limited exposure to clay has sometimes meant she has struggled against lower-ranked opposition on the surface.<\/p>\n

However, Boulter told BBC Sport earlier this month that she was embracing the challenge of playing on the red dirt more each year.<\/p>\n

“There have been times in the past where I feel like I have had to try to convince myself that I like the clay, whereas at the moment I genuinely believe that I can play great on it,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The 29-year-old endured a difficult 2025, dropping from 24th in the world to outside the top 100, and she lost her British number one ranking amid injury issues.<\/p>\n

Searching for a fresh start, she split from her long-time coach Biljana Veselinovic and appointed Michael Joyce – the former coach of Maria Sharapova – in early 2026.<\/p>\n

After a first-round exit in January’s Australian Open, Boulter returned to the world’s top 100 with a WTA 250 title in Ostrava and a run to the third round in Miami.<\/p>\n

But her form remained inconsistent and she had won just three WTA Tour-level singles matches from four clay tournaments in the build-up to the Paris major.<\/p>\n

Unforced errors flew freely from both players’ racquets and the pair twice traded breaks in the opening set before Boulter served it out at the second time of asking.<\/p>\n

Back-to-back double faults from Boulter put Urhobo on the front foot early in the second, and although Boulter levelled the scores mid-set, the Florida-born player restored her advantage immediately and forced the decider.<\/p>\n

Both players raised their level in the third and the quality improved somewhat as Boulter stamped her authority on the contest with a break in the fourth game.<\/p>\n

Once again, the Briton failed to serve out the set and she eventually grabbed the win – after two hours and 10 minutes – by breaking Urhobo’s serve for a sixth time.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, 58 unforced errors to Boulter’s 35 proved too costly for rising star Urhobo, who broke into the top 200 for the first time earlier this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Samuel, 23, dropped to almost 2,000 in the world rankings after missing much of the 2024 season with bruising in his right arm.<\/p>\n

But he has climbed more places than anyone else on the men’s tour over the past year, rising to 159th amid a run of titles on the ATP Challenger Tour – the second tier of men’s professional tennis.<\/p>\n

Contesting the biggest match of his career on Monday, Samuel produced an encouraging display despite a 6-4 6-4 6-2 against seven-time major quarter-finalist De Minaur – the first top-100 player he has ever faced.<\/p>\n

“The week has been more than I could ever hope for,” Samuel told BBC Sport. “To be in the main draw is more than I could have ever wanted.”<\/p>\n

On now aiming for a wildcard to play at Wimbledon, he added: “I’m just taking it one week at a time, trying to do my best and put myself in the best position to get a wildcard.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Great Britain’s Katie Boulter avoided an early slip-up in the first round of the French Open as she ground out a gruelling win over American wildcard Akasha Urhobo. Playing on clay has never come easy for Boulter, who only won her first WTA Tour-level match on the surface last year – at the age of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGB's Boulter scrapes into French Open second round - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/25\/gbs-boulter-scrapes-into-french-open-second-round\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GB's Boulter scrapes into French Open second round\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Great Britain’s Katie Boulter avoided an early slip-up in the first round of the French Open as she ground out a gruelling win over American wildcard Akasha Urhobo. 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