KATIE BOULTER insisted she is looking forward to trying to slog her way through tennis’s backwaters again after an Australian Open loss to Belinda Bencic that started disastrously but ended in some promise.

Boulter has slumped to 113 in the rankings and only snuck into the draw at the last minute — to find herself paired with arguably the most in-form player in the women’s game, with Bencic back in the top 10 little over a year after returning from the birth of her daughter and fresh from a win over Iga Swiatek.

The British number four won only 10 points in the opening set but rallied in the second before slipping to a 6-0 7-5 defeat.

“As I settled into the second, I can take confidence from the fact that I can definitely improve myself,” said Boulter.

“I was right there with her at times. So there is some confidence in that. I think I just need to play a bunch of those matches and just get used to those tight moments again.”

Boulter has reset after a very disappointing 2025 season, switching coaches to American Michael Joyce and channelling the excitement of her forthcoming wedding to Alex De Minaur.

He was sat in her courtside box on Margaret Court Arena but finding positivity in the first set was difficult.

Boulter was able to stop the run of games against her at the start of the second set, though, earning warm support from the crowd, who have adopted her as one of their own.

She led 5-4, but that turned out to be as good as things got, and Boulter must now set her sights on lower-level events as she tries to propel her ranking back in the right direction.

The 29-year-old said: “I’m eager to get out and play loads of matches. I’m not precious about qualifying in any tournaments. I’m actually very excited to go and play some tournaments, even lower ones.”

Earlier, Sonay Kartal declared her performance in a 7-6 (3) 6-1 loss to 31st seed Anna Kalinskaya the worst she had played in years.

Kartal arrived in Melbourne on the back of a very narrow loss to Elina Svitolina in Auckland that seemed to have carried on her momentum from a strong end to last season.

She initially had the upper hand against Kalinskaya but ultimately paid for relying too much on the Russian’s errors.

Kartal played a poor tie-break and her chances of a comeback evaporated as Kalinskaya opened up a 5-0 lead in the second set.

“Obviously very disappointed,” said Kartal, who is still looking for her first victory at the tournament.

“For me, it was not my finest at all, even my base level was not really there today, which is something I rely on.

“I think, if I could go back out there now and play that match again, I’d play it a completely different way.

“Maybe she did raise her level, but my level dipped to a level that hasn’t been that low for years, probably.

“I ended last year feeling good and feel like I was training well. The warm-up this morning, I was playing well.

“I’m super disappointed, especially after Auckland. It’s a long old season ahead, so I’m not going to look too deep into this.”

Defeats for Boulter and Kartal mean Emma Raducanu, who plays Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday, is the only British woman through to the second round.