Katie Boulter beats Ruzic in Osaka to secure British No 1 return

Katie Boulter will return to the top of the British women's rankings after coming from behind to beat Antonia Ruzic in the Japan Open quarter-finals in Osaka. BBC Sport reported that the eighth seed won 3-6 6-3 6-3 in two hours, recovering from a set and a break down to secure a place in the last four.

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The result reverses a change in the British standings earlier this week. Sonay Kartal had moved ahead on Monday after reaching the Wuhan final, leaving Boulter with a 55-point gap to close. Reaching the Osaka semi-finals was enough to erase that deficit. The 30-year-old is now assured of overtaking Kartal and returning to the world's top 50 when the WTA rankings are updated on Monday, regardless of her next result.

Boulter had to work through a difficult opening phase against the Croatian world number 91. Across the first two sets, she won only 60% of points behind her first serve, committed four double faults and faced seven break points. Ruzic broke in Boulter's opening service game. Although a double fault from Ruzic gave the Briton a break back at 4-2, the Croatian responded by taking four consecutive games.

The second set brought the key resistance from Boulter. She saved two break points in the third game, preventing Ruzic from establishing a double-break advantage. After three successive breaks of serve between the players, Boulter held in the seventh game. Her improvement also came through moving inside the baseline and applying more pressure to her 23-year-old opponent, according to the BBC's account.

That seventh-game hold formed part of an eight-game winning sequence which carried Boulter through the second set and into a 4-0 lead in the decider. There was still a late setback: she could not serve out the match at 5-2. But she immediately broke Ruzic without conceding a point to finish the contest and complete the turnaround.

Boulter now faces the Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova for a place in the final. This is her third WTA semi-final of 2026 and her first since Queen's in June. Speaking after the victory, Boulter credited Ruzic's performance and acknowledged that some luck during the second set had helped her stay in contention.