Boulter overcomes Kostyuk in San Diego, wins second career title

Katie Boulter of Great Britain won the second and highest-level Hologic WTA Tour title of her career on Sunday, fighting past No.6 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 to claim the Cymbiotika San Diego Open crown.

Boulter needed 2 hours and 13 minutes to power past Kostyuk in their first meeting and notch her first WTA 500 title. Boulter's previous title came last summer, when she triumphed in her home country on the grass courts of WTA 250 Nottingham.

Words from the winner: "I don’t know what just happened," Boulter said after her victory. "This week has been very, very special for so many different reasons. This one is pretty amazing, I’ve worked very hard for it, I played some incredible tennis all week.

"Today was a complete battle, with myself as well, because I was a little bit nervous. But I managed to get over the line, and that I’m very proud of.

"A lot of it was about me staying as tough as I possibly could mentally, and I managed to keep my cool and actually kind of went within myself and calmed myself down a lot. I think that really helped me, and then I started to relax and play through shots a little bit more."

By the numbers: Currently ranked No.49, Boulter is the lowest-ranked player to win a WTA 500 title since then-No.106 Liudmila Samsonova won 2021 Berlin. With the title, Boulter is projected to hit a new career-high ranking of No.27, shattering her previous career-high of No.48.

All five of Boulter's victories at the Cymbiotika San Diego Open have been over Top 50 opposition, increasing her career tally of Top 50 wins from nine to 14 in the span of a week.

Boulter is the second Brit to capture a WTA 500 title, joining former World No.4 Johanna Konta, who hoisted WTA 500 trophies at 2016 Stanford and 2017 Sydney.

Match moments: Boulter made her first move in the opening set, where she charged from 5-2 down to 5-5, saving five set points in that run. However, Kostyuk blasted her way to a hold for 6-5, and Boulter hit her sixth double fault of the set on the Ukrainian’s seventh set point.

Boulter came out firing again in the second set, cracking a forehand winner down the line to lead 3-1. Boulter broke Kostyuk for the third time in the set to lead 5-2, and she served out the set routinely to level the match. Boulter won 60 percent of points on return in the second set.

The 27-year-old Boulter kept her momentum up in the decider, breaking Kostyuk for a 2-1 lead for the third consecutive set. The Brit slammed a return winner to break Kostyuk once more for 5-2, and Boulter hit her first two aces of the day in the next game en route to victory.

All told, Boulter converted seven of her 11 break points in the final, while also saving seven of the 11 break points she faced.

Melichar-Martinez, Perez cruise to doubles crown: No.3 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Ellen Perez of Australia won the Cymbiotika San Diego Open doubles title with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over No.1 seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Jessica Pegula in Sunday's final.

Melichar-Martinez and Perez needed just 58 minutes to dispatch the top seeds and win their second title as a partnership. Their previous team title came at 2022 Cleveland. Overall, Melichar-Martinez has won 13 WTA doubles titles, and Perez has won six.

The victors won nearly 80 percent of their first-service points on Sunday, while also capturing 68 percent of points when returning the No.1 seeds' second serves. Melichar-Martinez and Perez converted five of their 13 break points and dropped serve only once.