Katie Boulter wins in Hong Kong despite incident that 'got under my skin' during match versus Viktorija Golubic

Katie Boulter battled into the second round of the Hong Kong Open with a straight-sets victory over Viktorija Golubic, despite an incident that "got under my skin", according to the British No 1.

Boulter was twice broken when serving for the match in the second set, having complained to the umpire when up 5-2 after a point was not replayed despite her being distracted by a noise from outside the court.

She ultimately triumphed in a tiebreak to take the match 6-2 7-6 (7-2), clinching a fourth win in five following on from reaching the semi-finals in Japan Open last month that saw her reclaim top spot from Sonay Kartal as British No 1.

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Boulter, ranked 49th in the world and seeded eighth at the tournament, had got the better of Golubic in Osaka two weeks ago and repeated the feat in her Hong Kong opener.

She was broken early on by the Swiss but hit back to win eight games in a row to take the first set and control the second.

A superb passing winner at the net helped Boulter move 4-1 up before she squandered match point on Golubic's serve and was then broken twice, but the 30-year-old held her nerve to first force a tiebreak and then take it to reach the last 16, where she'll face American Claire Liu.

"It was interesting," Boulter said of her second-set wobble. "I was playing some really good tennis. I feel like I should have closed it out but a couple of things happened.

"There was a little bit of interesting judgement which got under my skin a little bit and, usually, I'm pretty good at batting it off but I was a little tired.

"It's end of season and it seemed to get to me but lesson learned, I managed to get over the line."

Venus losing streak extends to 17 singles matches

Venus Williams failed to break her losing streak in singles during 2026, with the seven-time Grand Slam champion falling to another defeat in the Hong Kong Open.

Williams was beaten by fellow American Mary Stoiana 6-2 6-3 in the opening round.

The 46-year-old last won a singles match on the WTA Tour in July 2025 and has lost her last 17 encounters.

The longest overall losing streak in WTA history belongs to Madeleine Pegel, who lost 29 consecutive matches between 1968 and 1972.

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