Nottingham Open: Boulter’s hat-trick bid ends after loss to Kessler

Katie Boulter’s bid for a hat-trick of Nottingham titles came to an end as the Briton was beaten 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 by American McCartney Kessler at the WTA 250 event on Friday.

Eighth seed Boulter secured a service break early in the deciding set, but Kessler stormed back to reach the semifinals.

Boulter became Britain’s number one when winning the Nottingham title in 2023 and held it until being knocked off the top spot by Emma Raducanu this week.

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Kessler only recorded her first main draw Tour-level win on grass last week at Queen’s but is now eyeing a title on the surface. She will face either Slovak Rebecca Sramkova or Czech Linda Noskova in the semifinal.

Saturday’s other semifinal will feature Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska and Poland’s Magda Linette.

Yastremska beat Canada’s fifth seed, Leylah Fernandez, 6-3 7-6(6), while Linette beat Clara Tauson 6-2 7-5 to reach a career-first semifinal on grass.