British number one Katie Boulter reached the last 16 of the Hong Kong Open with a 6-2 7-6 (7-2) victory over Viktorija Golubic, despite an incident that she said "got under my skin." Serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set, Boulter was broken after complaining to the umpire about an audible distraction from outside the court that was not replayed. She lost the next service game but recovered to win the tie-break. "It was interesting... a couple of things happened. There was a little bit of interesting judgement which got under my skin a little bit and, usually, I'm pretty good at batting it off but I was a little tired. It's end of season and it seemed to get to me but lesson learned, I managed to get over the line," Boulter said. She will face American Claire Liu in the next round.
Norrie Secures First ATP Win Since August
Cameron Norrie, the British number two, advanced to the second round of the Paris Masters with a 6-4 1-6 6-3 win over Italy's Matteo Arnaldi, who is ranked nine places higher at 36th. The match lasted one hour and 41 minutes. Norrie, 31, said he is trying to enjoy his tennis after a difficult year: "I'm just trying to enjoy my tennis. It's been a difficult year for me and I don't really care any more - I just want to play, and play to win." He broke back immediately after losing serve in the first set, then regrouped in the decider to secure his first ATP Tour win since August.
Venus Williams Suffers 17th Straight Loss
In the same Hong Kong tournament, 46-year-old Venus Williams lost 6-2 6-3 to 23-year-old American Mary Stoiana, ranked 113th, marking her 17th consecutive singles defeat. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, has not won a singles match since July 2025 and relies on wildcards to enter WTA events.
