Katie Boulter beaten by Belinda Bencic in Australian Open first round

Emma Raducanu will carry British hopes alone into the second round of the women’s singles at the Australian Open after Katie Boulter was beaten by Belinda Bencic.

Boulter has slumped to 113 in the rankings and only snuck into the draw at the last minute – to find herself paired with arguably the most in-form player in the women’s game.

The British number four at least rallied in the second set before slipping to a 6-0 7-5 defeat and joining Sonay Kartal in making a first-round exit.

Defeat for Katie Boulter against the No.10 seed #BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/HlTCCIL1CZ

— LTA (@the_LTA) January 20, 2026

Boulter has reset after a very disappointing 2025 season, switching coaches to American Michael Joyce and channelling the excitement of her forthcoming wedding to Alex De Minaur.

He was sat in her courtside box on Margaret Court Arena but finding positivity in the first set was difficult, with Boulter winning just 10 points and losing it to love after only 26 minutes.

It appeared a nightmare draw for Boulter, with Bencic in some of the best form of her career having defeated Iga Swiatek this month to return to the top 10 little over a year after coming back to the sport following the birth of daughter Bella.

Boulter was able to stop the run of games against her at the start of the second set, though, earning warm support from the crowd, who have adopted her as one of their own.

And she built on her foothold impressively, starting to really trouble Bencic with her big forehand and hitting straight back after the 10th seed broke to lead 4-3.

But Bencic stepped up the pace again and this time Boulter could not find a response.

Earlier, Kartal declared her performance the worst she had played in years.

There was no disgrace for the British number two, who is ranked 66th, in losing to 31st seed Anna Kalinskaya, but it was the manner of her 7-6 (3) 6-1 defeat than rankled.

Kartal arrived in Melbourne on the back of a very narrow loss to Elina Svitolina in Auckland that seemed to have carried on her momentum from a strong end to last season.

She initially had the upper hand against Kalinskaya but ultimately paid for relying too much on the Russian’s errors.

Kartal played a poor tie-break and her chances of a comeback evaporated as Kalinskaya opened up a 5-0 lead in the second set.

“Obviously very disappointed,” said Kartal, who is still looking for her first victory at the tournament.

“For me, it was not my finest at all, even my base level was not really there today, which is something I rely on.

“I think, if I could go back out there now and play that match again, I’d play it a completely different way.

“Maybe she did raise her level but my level dipped to a level that hasn’t been that low for years, probably.

“I ended last year feeling good and feel like I was training well. The warm-up this morning, I was playing well.

“I’m super disappointed, especially after Auckland. It’s a long old season ahead so I’m not going to look too deep into this.”

Raducanu will take on Anastasia Potapova in the second round on Wednesday.