Katie Boulter was brought back down to earth with a straight-sets loss to Camila Giorgi in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Boulter arrived at the tournament riding a crest of a wave after she secured a maiden WTA 500 title at the San Diego Open to continue her excellent 2024.
It earned the British number one a new career-best ranking of 27, but her momentum was checked after a 6-3 6-2 loss in quick fashion to Italian opponent Giorgi.
Forza Camila 🇮🇹
Camila Giorgi stops San Diego champion Boulter 6-3, 6-2 in Indian Wells R1!#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/sz7X79jpR1
— wta (@WTA) March 6, 2024
Giorgi entered this match in poor form and early breaks were exchanged between the duo before the first set went the way of the 32-year-old in 40 minutes.
After Giorgi claimed a decisive second break to edge the opener 6-3, two early breaks handed her the initiative at the start of the next set.
Boulter did finally get off the mark to make it 4-1 but there was no way back and she exited after a 78-minute loss.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.