Boulter beats Raducanu, Pliskova in marathon day to defend Nottingham title

“Honestly, I came into this week with pretty low expectations, just coming out here and enjoy myself,” Boulter said.

“To come out here and play some seriously good tennis and get over the line, I’m not entirely sure how I did it in the end. But I’ve gone back-to-back and I’m super proud of myself.”

Nottingham is Boulter’s third career title and second of the season. She won her first of the year earlier on the hard courts of San Diego.

Last year, Boulter captured her first Hologic WTA Tour title with an inspired run at Nottingham. The victory boosted the Leicester native back in the Top 100 and sparked her steady rise up the rankings to sit comfortably as Britain’s top-ranked woman.

“This is a little bit of deja vu,” Pliskova said. “I’m not entirely sure if I’m dreaming or if this actually just happened. It’s incredible to be here. It’s got a special place in my heart and it always will.

“It’s been an incredible week for me. Mentally tough after a hard clay-court season.”

The 27-year-old was made to work on Sunday, as she rallied from a set down twice to remain undefeated on the week. The day began with the resumption of her suspended semifinal duel with Raducanu. The two played a tense 80-minute first set on Saturday evening, which Raducanu won 7-6(13) before play was suspended for light.

When play resumed on Sunday afternoon, Boulter engineered a physical comeback to win the Battle of the Brits, 6-7(13), 6-3, 6-4. In total, the match lasted 3 hours and 13 minutes and improved Boulter’s record against Raducanu to 2-0.

The victory set up a Championship showdown against Pliskova, who advanced to her second final of the season by defeating Diane Parry 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 earlier in the day.

Boulter and Pliskova had split their first four meetings, with every match going the distance to a third set. Sunday’s match was no different. Boulter broke early in the first set but could not protect her lead, as Pliskova stormed back to take it in 39 minutes.

But the physical effort of the last 48 hours seemed to take its toll on the big-hitting Czech, who ousted top seed Ons Jabeur in three sets on Saturday. Her stinging serve and baseline shots began to lose velocity and Boulter capitalized to force a third set. There, Boulter broke Pliskova’s serve three times to seal victory after 1 hour and 53 minutes.

Boulter out-aced Pliskova eight to three, with the Czech throwing in seven double faults. Boulter finished the match with 31 winners to 28 unforced errors, outpacing Pliskova’s 21 winners and 25 unforced errors.