Katie Boulter beats Harriet Dart to join Jodie Burrage in Nottingham semi-finals

Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart had a fiery exchange at the net after the British number one’s victory at the Nottingham Open.

Boulter completed a 6-3 7-5 win in the all-British match to reach her first WTA Tour-level semi-final, but as the players shook hands Dart had clearly taken exception to something.

She appeared to question her opponent’s professionalism, to which Boulter replied “It’s nothing personal. Mate, I do it every single match.”

Afterwards Boulter said in her on-court interview: “It was a battle out there. You could see how much it meant to me to get through that match.

“It’s awful playing a friend but I tried to play the ball and not the player. Today it was my day.”

Boulter faces Heather Watson in Saturday’s semi, meaning at least one Briton will definitely reach the final and have the chance to emulate Johanna Konta’s win of two years ago.

Watson, 31, who came through qualifying, overcame Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 7-6 (2) 7-5.

It could even be an all-British final after Jodie Burrage reached her maiden semi-final, coming through a tight match against Poland’s Magdalena Frech.

The 24-year-old won five games in a row to take the first set, finishing it off with an ace.

But she looked up against it after requiring a medical time-out on her way to dropping the second, and fell a break down early in the third.

However, Burrage broke straight back and went on to clinch a 6-2 3-6 7-5 victory in two hours and 21 minutes.

“I’m absolutely knackered now,” she said on court. “I wish I could stop playing three-set matches, but if it gets me the win, then I’ve got to grind through it.

“It was a really tough match. I am feeling it a little bit and in the second set, I was thinking too much about that and not about the tennis. Then I picked it up in the third set.

“This week has given me so much confidence. To come out and make my first semi-final in a WTA event, the confidence it gives me is massive and I will take it through to the next tournaments.”