British number one Katie Boulter suffered her first-ever defeat in a WTA Tour final as she succumbed to Diana Shnaider's superiority at the Hong Kong Open on Sunday morning.
The second seed boasted a perfect 3-0 in championship matches heading into her fourth top-level final, having triumphed in Nottingham over the past two seasons as well as winning her first WTA 500 title in San Diego this year.
However, Boulter was no match for a scintillating Shnaider in Sunday's final, as the Russian top seed cruised to an emphatic 6-1 6-2 victory, taking just one hour and 10 minutes to crush the British number one.
While Boulter has now been forced to accept a WTA Tour runners-up prize for the first time, Shnaider has won all four of her finals in 2024, also conquering the Hua Hin Championships, Bad Homburg Open and Budapest Grand Prix.
"It feels amazing honestly," Shnaider said on the court. "It's the last tournament of the season and to finish it here with a trophy with my family, and this support for the whole week, it's been an enjoyable week for me.
Asked how she has been able to clinch titles on hard, clay and grass courts this year, the overjoyed 20-year-old replied: "I will keep it a secret! I honestly don't know, it's just the game that I have, I'm doing my best to get ready properly for each surface, I just want to be great on all surfaces!"
How Shnaider demolished Boulter to win Hong Kong title
Defeat for Britain's Katie Boulter in the Hong Kong final as she loses 6-1 6-2 to Diana Shnaider 🚨🎾pic.twitter.com/Q4I1wsZeB6
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 3, 2024
Heading into a first-ever meeting with Shnaider, Boulter had dropped just one set in her opening four matches with Aoi Ito, Wang Xiyu, Anastasia Zakharova and Yuan Yue, thereby ensuing that she would go one better than her semi-final showing at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Shnaider had also laid down a semi-final marker by eliminating defending champion Leylah Fernandez, and the Russian's remarkable power overwhelmed Boulter right from the start, as she raced into a 5-0 advantage.
Boulter could afford a wry smile as she finally got on the board in the sixth game, saving a set point in the process, but Shnaider made no mistake on serve to wrap up the opener with relative ease.
The Russian's ruthlessness did not let up after the restart, as she converted two break points in quick succession for a 4-0 lead, and two Boulter holds would be mere consolations on a day where she landed just 51% of her first serves.
Despite not putting up much of a fight on Sunday, the 28-year-old has broken into the top 25 of the WTA rankings for the first time - now sitting 23rd - and was upbeat during the trophy ceremony.
"First of all, a massive congratulations to Dian and her team," Boulter said. "You deserve every single minute of it, you absolutely killed me today but I'll get you next time! A massive thank you to my team, half of you are here, half of you are on the TV! I'm sure we're going to bounce back, what a season we've had.
"What an incredible tournament, I will love coming back here every single year. I've been running on an empty tank for seven days now and if it wasn't for you guys [the fans] I wouldn't be here."
Boulter will now turn her attention towards the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, as Great Britain take on Germany in their first-round tie on November 15.
Ben Knapton
