Katie Boulter will take a win however they come but admitted finding it difficult after 16-year-old opponent Brenda Fruhvirtova retired from the pair’s match at the Miami Open with illness.
The Czech player, predicted to be one the game’s new stars, was the latest player to struggle with the searing heat in Florida overnight.
She first received treatment when 5-4 up in the opening set and eventually threw in the towel early in the second set with Boulter leading 7-6, 1-0.
For Boulter, it proved another big win in what is proving to be the best season of her career, although tougher challenges lay ahead with No11 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia lying in wait in round three.
Following the walkover, she said: “Halfway through the match I’m seeing her coaches telling her to pull out and then she’s not. One minute she’s struggling to put the ball in the court and the next she’s running 10 shots side to side.
“It’s a tough mental game and, for me, it was challenging today. I wasn’t the kindest to myself but you live and learn.”
Boulter, as the No24 seed in Miami, had earned a bye into the second round to play her teenage opponent, who in turn had to come through a first-round match of her own to set up the tie against the British No1.
“It’s a tough situation,” said Boulter. “She’s played a match on these courts so I always going to find it difficult to come in and play.
“It’s not a situation I’ve been in before, it’s something quite new for me. Obviously, to win a match like that, I’ll take it but I don’t want to win like that. She’s a young talend and she’s going to do very, very well in the future.”
In contrast to Boulter, Dan Evans has endured a tough start to 2024, landing in Miami with just two wins from his eight matches to date.
But he made it win No3 and his first career victory over Lorenzo Sonego in the duo’s fourth career meeting.
The 33-year-old looked set for a premature exit from the ATP Tour 1000 tournament when he lost an opening set in which he held serve just once but he fought back to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In the wake of the win, he said: “I’m really happy. It has been a tragic year so far.”
