Katie Boulter overcomes heat exhaustion in thrilling Sonay Kartal win as Jacob Fearnley breaks new ground

Katie Boulter's dream of a fabulous Nottingham Open three-peat remains alive thanks to an extremely hard-fought second-round triumph over compatriot Sonay Kartal on Thursday.

The British number two overcame a second-set blip and triumphed in a tremendous third to seal a 6-4 1-6 7-5 victory with two hours and 26 minutes on the clock.

After admitting to feeling slightly under the weather in her first-round success over Lulu Sun, Boulter required a visit from the doctor in the latter stages of the contest as she battled both Kartal's booming shots and the British heatwave.

However, after wasting her first two match points, the third time was the charm for the 2023 and 2024 Nottingham Open champion, who shared a warm hug with good friend Kartal at the net.

Now standing in Boulter's way of a possible third straight Nottingham crown is the USA's McCartney Kessler, while either Linda Noskova or Rebecca Sramkova will await in the last four if she can overcome that stiff test.

Jacob Fearnley on Jack Draper collision course at Queen's

Boulter was not the only Briton to recover from a second-set downturn to triumph on Thursday, as Jacob Fearnley sank Corentin Moutet at Queen's to reach his maiden ATP Tour quarter-final.

The world number 60 took out the French qualifier 6-3 2-6 6-2 in two hours and eight minutes, making up for seven double faults by saving nine of the 12 break points he faced.

Fearnley now prepares for a quarter-final showdown with Jiri Lehecka, which could precede a semi-final battle with Jack Draper if his compatriot can overcome the USA's Brandon Nakashima.

However, 17-year-old Mingge Xu's admirable showing at Nottingham came to an end in the second round, as the world number 350 was beaten in straight sets by sixth seed Magda Linette.

Wildcard Xu had stunned Katie Volynets in the first round on what was her WTA Tour debut, and she held her own in the first set against Linette before succumbing to a 5-7 1-6 loss.

Xu held out until the 12th game of the opening set as Linette finally broke for the lead, before putting herself on the cusp of a quarter-final place by winning the first five games of the second set.

Xu spurned four chances to break the world number 31, who converted her second match point to set up a showdown with either Clara Tauson or Anna Blinkova.

Written by
Ben Knapton