Twelve months ago, Katie Boulter got her first taste of Centre Court and left a lasting impression on her home crowd when she pushed world No.4 Aryna Sabalenka to her limits before succumbing in three close sets in the Wimbledon second round.

That day, Boulter was understandably disappointed for not completing the upset but walked away with no regrets and a bolstered sense of self belief.

On Thursday, at the All England Club, the opportunity presented itself once again and this time world No.118 Boulter did not flinch, storming to a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 triumph over last year’s finalist, the No.6 seed, Karolina Pliskova.

It was Boulter’s second win in nine days over Pliskova, but this one required much more heart and determination given what she dealt with in the build-up.

The 25-year-old from Leicester made a tearful revelation during her on-court interview, dedicating her victory to her grandmother, who passed away two days ago.

“I am beaming with pride for Katie. I’m so proud of her, she’s been through so much,” said commentator, former player and British Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong.

“I don’t know how she was able to really walk out on that court and put in that kind of performance, because I know how close she was to her grandmother.”

The British wild card is through to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career and will face Harmony Tan for a place in the second week.

“Honestly it’s a dream come true for me, I’ve got hopefully many more matches to play and if I can have you guys behind me for those then hopefully I can go a long way, so thank you so much,” Boulter told the Centre Court crowd.

Pliskova dropped serve first but strung together five games in a row, to open up a 5-2 advantage. She closed out the first set at love to take the lead in 36 minutes.

At the start of the second, Boulter again took the initiative to break first, benefitting from a Pliskova double fault in game three.

But the Czech responded immediately, unleashing missiles off the ground in some punishing baseline exchanges to break back.

Another Pliskova double fault gave Boulter a two-game cushion once again but the deficit was soon erased as the No.6 seed drew level for 4-all.

The set fittingly went to a tie-break, which saw Boulter leap to a 4-0 lead. Despite an attempted comeback from Pliskova, who won the next three points, Boulter grabbed the set on her second opportunity to force a decider.

In their opening round in Eastbourne last week, Boulter had dropped the first set before advancing in three. At the start of the decider, a rattled Pliskova served four double faults to get broken. The Czech made sure that wouldn’t be the case on Thursday, holding firm for 1-0 in the deciding set.

The duo were neck and neck until Boulter clinched a crucial break in the ninth game with a bullet return to put herself in the position to serve for the victory, which she sealed moments later with a smooth volley winner.

Boulter fired 24 winners, withstood 13 aces from Pliskova and was an impressive 11/14 at the net. 

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