Madrid Open: Katie Boulter trounced by Jasmine Paolini

Katie Boulter was outclassed by Jasmine Paolini in the second round of the Madrid Open on Friday as the British No. 1 fell to a 6-1, 6-2 defeat after exactly one hour.

The clay-court meeting between the pair in the Spanish capital tipped the career head-to-head results in Paolini’s favour — they had previously won two apiece.

World No. 6 Paolini was in imperious form, dropping just three games on her way to setting up a third-round meeting with either Magda Linette or Maria Sakkari.

Boulter has traditionally struggled on clay — her first-round win over Katerina Siniakova on Tuesday was the first tour-level win of her career on the surface — and she quickly fell behind to the Italian, with Paolini brushing off a break in the third game to race into a set lead.

Paolini conceded just four points in the first five games of the second set as Boulter’s frequent unforced errors — she finished the match with 21 — contributed to her downfall.

Boulter steadied herself to take two games back before Paolini served out the match with consumate ease.