Katie Boulter exits French Open, ending British singles hopes

Katie Boulter’s run ended on Court 13 in a three-set loss to 28th seed Anastasia Potapova, and with it went Britain’s singles hopes at Roland Garros. Emma Raducanu, Francesca Jones and Cameron Norrie had already gone out, leaving Boulter as the last Brit standing before she was beaten in the second round.

The defeat mattered beyond one match because Boulter was chasing a breakthrough she has not yet been able to make on Paris clay. The British No. 3, ranked 71 in the world on the WTA site, had never previously reached the French Open third round. Her best result at Roland Garros remained the second round, including a 2025 showing that ended at the round-of-64 stage.

Boulter had opened her campaign by beating American wildcard Akasha Urhobo, a result that briefly kept British interest alive in the women’s draw. Potapova arrived with momentum too, having taken out Maya Joint in the opening round before handling the pressure of a deciding set against Boulter. The Russian, seeded 28th, looked more settled in the longer exchanges, while Boulter was left searching for the level needed to turn a promising start into a deeper run.

Court 13 became a hard marker for British tennis. Boulter was the fourth British player to lose there, turning the outside court into an unwanted symbol of how quickly the singles draw unravelled for the country in Paris. With Raducanu, Jones and Norrie already out, Britain failed to place a singles player into the French Open third round in either draw.

That pattern is what makes Boulter’s exit more telling than disappointing. Britain continues to produce recognizable names and top domestic ranking positions, but those credentials have not yet translated into sustained success on clay, the surface that most clearly exposes movement, patience and point construction. Roland Garros, which runs from 18 May to 7 June with the women’s singles final set for 6 June, has once again underlined the same problem: British tennis can reach the second round, but too often stops there when the red dirt demands a longer evolution.