KATIE BOULTER AND HARRIET DART'S FROSTY RELATIONSHIP AS BRITISH NO 1 AND 2 FACE OFF IN WIMBLEDON GRUDGE MATCH

Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart may be Billie Jean King Cup team-mates for Great Britain, but they've not always seen eye-to-eye.

The top two ranked British female tennis stars go toe-to-toe in a fascinating clash on Court One today with a spot in the third round up for grabs.

Both British stars have reached the third round of Wimbledon on two separate occasions but have failed to go any further.

On paper, Boulter is the strong favourite to go through given their head-to-head record and her recent form.

Dart has only beaten her compatriot once in seven competitive matches, which came all the way back in 2018.

2024 has also been a breakthrough year for Boulter as she's reached a new career-high in the rankings and Wimbledon is the first major she enters as a seeded player.

She successfully defended her title in Nottingham last month and reached the quarter-final in Eastbourne before losing to world No 7 Jasmine Paolini.

But Dart has also shown great form over this season's grasscourt season, which included a close match against Boulter in the opening round of the Nottingham Open.

The 27-year-old also recorded impressive wins over Marie Bouzkova and Sofia Kenin in Eastbourne last week.

Both Dart and Boulter will be gunning for victory and they're frosty relationship suggests there won't be any love lost between them during the match.

Their previous encounter in Nottingham saw Dart explode in a fit of rage at umpire Kelly Rask over a call that she felt was 'embarrassing'.

Boulter admitted after that she found it 'difficult' not to get involved in the awkward altercation on the other side of the net.

But tempers flared between the pair of them in Nottingham last year when they faced off in the quarter-finals.

Boulter won that encounter 6-3 7-5 and celebrated by tapping her finger on her head.

It led to a frosty handshake at the net with Dart confronting the British No 1 over the celebration.

Dart said: “I know you’re doing it towards me. It’s not professional.”

Boulter immediately pleaded innocence, insisting it had nothing to do with Dart.

“It’s nothing personal," she said. "Mate, I do it every single match. Every match.”

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When asked earlier this week to describe her relationship with Boulter, Dart tellingly said: "I mean, we're teammates. We played big tournaments. We've grown up together. We've been close."

There is still plenty of respect between the two, and Boulter won't take her opponent for granted.

She said: "We've played so many matches, but I do have to draw on the last things that I have played with her and use that to my advantage in the next round.

"I think it's going to be extremely tough. I have a lot of respect for her on this surface. It's one of her favorite ones. This is actually her home club. She's been here since she was a tiny tot with her mom."

2024-07-04T11:17:28Z dg43tfdfdgfd