Katie Boulter hires Sharapova’s former coach to revive career after dismal 2025

Katie Boulter is hopeful that she can rediscover her best form and return towards the top of the WTA Tour this year with the help of Maria Sharapova’s former coach Michael Joyce.

Boulter opted to split with her previous longtime coach, Biljana Veselinovic, at the end of last year after an incredibly difficult season in which she fell from her career high ranking of No 23 at the end of 2024 to her current ranking of No 113.

She quickly hired Joyce, a former player who has worked with Johanna Konta, Jessica Pegula, Victoria Azarenka and Eugenie Bouchard, with his most recent partnership a four-year tenure with Ashlyn Krueger.

“Personally I always really liked him,” said Boulter. “I thought he’s done a really good job with a lot of other players … Jessie, Ashlyn. I feel like he’s been around a long time on tour. He’s someone that I didn’t really get to know that much until I spent time with him on court, and I really like his style.

“I feel like it’s going well at the moment. I think we’re all quite calm, which really helps because I’ve got that energy around me, which is important for me as a tennis player.”

For a long time, it seemed as if Boulter would have to compete in the the Australian Open qualifying tournament and fight her way through three rounds to reach the main draw. She had been the highest ranked player on the qualifying entry list on Sunday, the day the qualifying draw was sorted, and she learned she had made it into the main draw only once the draw had come out. “Saturday and Sunday were pretty stressful, to be completely honest,” she said.

Boulter, who will marry her fiance, Alex de Minaur, this year, said her impending wedding ensured that 2026 would be one of the best years of her life and that that thought had imbued her with positive energy for her career. “I’m getting married this year,” she said. “It’s going to be an unbelievable year, one of the best ones in my life, no matter what happens on the tennis court.

“I think for me that’s already given me a positive push. I feel like having a new coach, having a new setup, everything is kind of fresh and exciting again. Whereas I feel like I was dragging my feet a little bit at the end of last year just trying to get through the whole entire year without injuries.”

In the absence of Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie will be the highest-ranked British player at a grand slam tournament, another milestone as he looks to follow up a resurgent 2025 season in which he rose from No 91 in the ATP rankings to his current position of No 26, reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon and even defeating Carlos Alcaraz, the No 1, at the Paris Masters.

Norrie said: “It was definitely looking difficult at one point in the year, but we made some good changes with my team. I think I was able to build a lot of momentum throughout the summer. There were a lot of obstacles, as always, but I was able to play my best tennis in some really big matches and some grand slam deep runs too, which helped.

“Then to finish the year, especially indoors where typically I’ve not really had the best results, to beat a world No 1 like Alcaraz in the Masters 1000 was massive. And then to back it up again in the next week in a 250 and beat a lot of players that I was very close in ranking.”

Norrie, the 26th seed, will begin against France’s Benjamin Bonzi. But the slice of luck that allowed Boulter to reach the main draw did not endure when the names were revealed as she will face Belinda Bencic, the in-form 10th seed, who won all five of her singles matches at the United Cup, including against Iga Swiatek.

Boulter said: “For me it’s another opportunity. I’m just going to go out and swing. I really don’t think there’s any pressure. I don’t think there’s anyone in this room that thinks I’m going to win that match. So I’m excited for it.”

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