No.1 Katie aiming to be a role model

KATIE Boulter has her sights set on the world’s top 10 and is hoping her success can help inspire more female coaches in tennis.

- ELEANOR CROOKS

The 27-year-old is enjoying the best period of her career, having soared from outside the top 150 to a high of 27 in the rankings in less than a year, winning WTA Tour titles in Nottingham and San Diego along the way.

Previously, Boulter’s trajectory had been a story of periodic highs amid long spells out of the game through injury and struggles to break through the lower levels of the sport.

Now she is a clear British number one and will be seeded at a grand slam for the first time at the French Open beginning on Sunday.

But Boulter is keen to stress her ambitions do not end here, saying: “When I was 150, I think it was actually tougher to be motivated. After Nottingham last year, I really don’t think I’ve ever been more hungry to succeed.

“Of course I’m happy and I’m doing well and I’m getting closer to where I want to be, but I genuinely think I have a chance of being inside the top 10, I think my game can be there, so I struggle to be satisfied sitting at 27 in the world.