https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/05/katie-boulter-wimbledon-defeat-naomi-osaka-tennishttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/05/katie-boulter-wimbledon-defeat-naomi-osaka-tennis•British player beaten by No 18 seed in second round • Boulter loses 6-3, 6-4 but seems destined for top 100 Britain’s Katie Boulter bowed out of Wimbledon on Thursday, but not before she had shown rising star Naomi Osaka that she can more than hold her own at this level.The 21-year-old played with poise and power against the world No 18 but eventually went down 6-3, 6-4 in the second round.Having lost 6-1, 6-2 to Osaka in Birmingham just a couple of weeks ago, Boulter upped her level and though the No 18 seed eased through 6-3, 6-4, the rousing send-off she received from the Court No 2 crowd was well-deserved.On this evidence, she will have plenty of good days ahead.Reaching the second round here means Boulter will rise to around No 111 in the rankings.Should she break the top 100 in the coming weeks, as she ought to, Boulter will earn automatic entry to the biggest events, including the US Open later this summer.In front of a packed crowd on Court No 2, which included two fans bizarrely dressed as Teletubbies, Boulter fell 3-0 down early on as Osaka asserted her authority from the off.The 20-year-old Japanese, who won the Miami Open this year, is a superb athlete with real power and the ability to turn it on seemingly at will.But after holding serve in the fourth game, Boulter settled down and made it a good contest.She broke the Osaka serve to get back on terms at 2-3, but Osaka, who walloped 24 winners overall to the 17 of Boulter, broke again for 4-2 and held the advantage to take the opening set.Boulter had a couple of break points to give her a 2-0 lead in the second but Osaka, seemingly unflappable under pressure, held serve and then got the vital breakthrough in the fifth game to lead 3-2.Boulter continued to attack but Osaka dug herself out of a couple of difficult service games to win and set up a third-round meeting with former runner-up Angelique Kerber or last year’s junior champion, Clare Liu.