Katie Boulter Wimbledon court scheduling fears dispelled by fellow British breakout star

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Ryan Peniston has backed Katie Boulter to have a good run at Wimbledon despite being scheduled at 11am on Court 2 for her first-ever Grand Slam third round. The 25-year-old upset last year’s finalist Karolina Pliskova on Centre Court in her previous round, leaving Saturday’s schedule to confuse many as the home hero was put on the third-biggest court to play in the morning.

Boulter and Peniston are among the Brits who have enjoyed huge grass-court seasons, as the WTA world No 118 reached a quarter-final and two round-of-16s before Wimbledon, while the Essex native made his ATP Tour debut in Queen’s where he downed French Open finalist Casper Ruud, going on to make back-to-back quarter-finals in London and Eastbourne.

On Thursday, Boulter captured the hearts of the nation as she beat sixth seed Pliskova for the second time in nine days, having upset the Czech star in Eastbourne, and dedicated the win to her gran who had recently passed. The British No 3 became one of the biggest sports stories of the day but tournament organisers scheduled her third-round match against Serena Williams conqueror for Court 2, snubbing the home hero from Centre and Court 1.

But Peniston has allayed fears that the Leicester local with have any issue with the match schedule and shared his hopes for her to have a good run after downing the former world No 1 in round two. “I didn’t know that,” he said of Boulter’s court assignment, speaking exclusively to Express Sport.

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“I’m sure she’ll be fine on any court Katie, she’s doing great. After beating Pliskova, after beating a seed she’ll have a decent draw but hope she goes through.”

The ATP world No 135 laughed off suggestions that his deep runs at Queen’s and Eastbourne had served as inspiration to his compatriot, but admitted it would be nice to know that he had encouraged any of his fellow Brits after they had all enjoyed strong grass seasons.

Jodie Burrage was another home hope to down a big name in Eastbourne as she upset Paula Badosa, while Jack Draper had enjoyed a run to the semi-final on the south coast, having defeated Peniston in the quarters.

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He explained: “Someone kinda said that to me yesterday or the day before, ‘do you think the couple wins you had have kinda pushed anyone else along and inspired them?’

“I was like, I mean I hope so if it has and it would be pretty nice if it has. But I mean we’re all just going along with it. All the Brits are just loving it at the moment.”

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