Fuming British tennis star slams her own friend’s ‘unprofessional gesture’ in awkward row just weeks before Wimbledon
TENNIS pals Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart locked horns after their quarter-final in Nottingham – just weeks before the Brits will cheer each other on at Wimbledon.
It is thought the row was sparked when British No1 Boulter pointed to her head as she celebrated a 6-3 7-5 win over her friend.
As the duo shook hands, fuming Dart pointed to her own head and said: “I know you’re doing it towards me. It’s not professional.”
To which Boulter hit back, furiously shaking her head, saying “I do it every single match. Every match.”
When asked about Harriet in her post match interview the 26-year-old did not address the incident but said: “It’s awful playing a friend.
“She’s such a tough competitor I knew it was going to be an absolute battle.
“But I tried to play the ball and not the player and today it was my way but another day it might not be so credit to her.
“I’ve worked so hard for this moment and overcome some really tough times.
“It was an absolute battle out there today. You could see how much it meant to me to get through that match.
“It took a while to get over it but it was a really tough battle and an incredible achievement by both of us to be here.”
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British No 3 Jodie Burrage joined Boulter in the semi-finals after surviving a fitness scare in a 6-2 3-6 7-5 victory over Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
The Londoner, 24, reeled off five games in a row to take the opening set – topping it off with an ace.
But she needed a a medical time-out in losing the second set and slumped a break down in the decider.
But Burrage ground her way back into it as she triumphed in two hours and 21 minutes but admitted: “I’m absolutely knackered now.”