On a blistering day two of women’s qualifying action in the Coachella Valley, Swiss upstart Viktorija Golubic took on Brit Katie Boulter with a spot in the 2019 BNP Paribas Open main draw on the line. It was Golubic who continued her fantastic run in the desert, with a swift 6-4, 6-3 straight set victory that took under an hour and a half to complete.
Golubic, who has been playing matches at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden for over a week already, controlled the pace of the match and capitalized on key break opportunities to overwhelm Boulter. Just last week, the Swiss won the Oracle Challenger Series Indian Wells behind some of the strongest play of her career. She dominated every opponent that stood in her way, breezing through a run of opponents that included Catherine McNally, Sara Sorribes Tormo and tournament No. 1 seed Wang Qiang.
Today, she continued to showcase the incredible poise that helped her capture the WTA 125K Challenger Tour title. She broke Boulter early in the opening set, and utilized strong service games to develop her lead into a 6-3 first set advantage.
Boulter, who defeated American Allie Kiick in a 3-set thriller to reach the second round of qualifying, put up a better fight in the second frame. She took an early advantage with a break over Golubic, but was unable to hang on to her lead. Golubic regained her composure and closed out the match with a dominant service game, stamping her ticket into the BNP Paribas Open main draw.
Golubic will look to continue her ascent in the desert when WTA main draw play begins tomorrow, March 6th.