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Katie Boulter’s dream of a second successive title at her home event is firmly alive as the British No 1 breezed into the quarter-finals of the Nottingham Open with 6-4 6-3 victory over Rebecca Marino.
Victory at the Wimbledon warm-up event last year kick-started an impressive year for the 27-year-old which has seen her surge into the world’s top 30.
Boulter, from nearby Leicester, said after her win: “Just being back where it started reminds me how far I have come and I just keep working hard every day and see what happens.
“I am out here enjoying myself on the Nottingham courts and I don’t take that for granted.
“It is going to take some time to be at my best, I am realistic with that, it is about getting some momentum and getting to the last weeks of the grass court season and playing my best stuff there.
“But I wouldn’t mind playing my best stuff here either. I’ll take it one match at a time and see how we go.”
Heather Watson was unable to follow her compatriot into the last eight, however, as she lost to 2016 champion Karolina Pliskova, going down 6-4 6-4 to the sixth seed.
Emma Raducanu will aim to book herself a quarter-final spot when she takes on Daria Snigur on Thursday, while Fran Jones also carries British hopes against Ashlyn Krueger.
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Emma Raducanu is looking forward to her return to grass after missing last season and is ‘super grateful’ for being ‘so healthy’.
In the men’s Challenger event, Dan Evans endured a tough time of it when edging past last year’s Wimbledon boys’ champion, and fellow Brit, Henry Searle.
Henry Searle was the Wimbledon boys’ champion last year and took fellow Brit Dan Evans to two tie-breaks before being defeated
Evans needed two tie-breaks to prevail, ultimately winning 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) to set up another all-British tie against Charles Broom in the quarter-final.
“He’s obviously very good,” said Evans of Searle. “I’m just happy to come through, to be honest – it’s not the draw I wanted to see when I saw I was next to his name.”
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