Katie Boulter and Heather Watson see off Brazilian challenge to secure quarter-final at Olympics

It was a convincing win for the British pair Katie Boulter and Heather Watson, with an entirely unproblematic first set followed by a second in which they remained unflappable in the face of five break points – three of which came from 0-40 in the game immediately after their break.

There was a significant, and loud, Brazilian contingent in the crowd, but as soon as the Team GB duo broke serve in the first set they were generating their own energy, and the British portion of the crowd made themselves heard.

Heather Watson, in her fourth and final Olympics, was outstanding at the net, displaying a diverse arsenal of volleying shots, whilst Boulter’s strong all-court game reappeared anytime the Brazilians –  Beatriz Haddad Maia and Luisa Stefani – were looking to tighten the pressure valve.

The quarter-final means Watson equalises her best Olympic effort when she reached the last eight with Andy Murray at Rio 2016.

The Britons in fact topped the unforced error count, and served at a lower percentage, but the most telling statistic was that they converted 2/2 breakpoints, whilst the Brazilians were nought from six.

There was a clear tactic to hit down the middle of the court from the British pair, particularly when Boulter’s in-form baseline game combined with Watson’s ominous presence at the net, and ultimately they starved the Brazilians of any space, with their winner count coming in at just 17.

Watson and Boulter, who won 6-3, 6-4, now advance to a match against the Italian third seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini. This will present a much sterner test, especially given Paolini’s singles pedigree having reached two slam finals this year.

Both breaks today came from the weaker Stefani serve – the only of the four to never have made a mark on the WTA singles tour – whereas the Italians may not concede the same luxury.

However, if the British serve can remain as consistent and unwavering as on Wednesday, they have a real chance at securing a coveted medal match.

Boulter and Watson triumph: As it happened...

06:38 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 6-3, 6-4 Haddad Maia/Stefani - Boulter and Watson WIN

They’ve done it! Boulter and Watson secure a quarter final with a clinical display, finished by a clinical game of tennis!

Watson begins by body shotting Stefanis twice to good effect, before a classic combination of serve and volley takes it to 30-0. The formula repeats itself again and Britain have three match points!

Which are taken at the third time of asking! A lob is undercooked on the first and Haddad Maia squeezes a serve return down the tram line brilliantly on the second, but a punishing serve is sent long on the third and GB win!! Thoroughly deserved and almost entirely unproblematic.

06:34 PM BST

Boulter/Watson* 6-3, 5-4 Haddad Maia/Stefani

Haddad Maia is tasked with serving to stay in the Olympics and does so in straight forward fashion. Boulter to serve for the match...

06:30 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 6-3, 5-3 Haddad Maia/Stefani*

Brazil take a 0-30 lead thanks to some Heather Watson errors, and a double fault gives Brazil three break points - how frustrating. The Brazilian crowd erupt...

...Prematurely. Boulter defends the first, before the two combine to defend the second, Watson slamming a forehand down the tramlines past Stefani, and the third is defended too, some deft volleying from Boulter pins Haddad Maia.

Perhaps out of frustration Haddad Maia unleashes an uncontrolled forehand long, and Watson’s next serve is too powerful for Stefani - Britain hold - that’s five breakpoints defended in their last two service games, and two deuces negotiated efficiently.

06:23 PM BST

Boulter/Watson* 6-3, 4-3 Haddad Maia/Stefani

This becoming something of a volleying clinic from Heather Watson, picking a slower ball off her laces and lobbing the Brazilians on the full to set up a duly taken smash. She then hits a dipping serve return on the next point, allowing Boulter to volley and present two breakpoints.

And GB break!! At the first time of asking, Boulter finding that nice dip on the serve return as Watson did the point before to force a Brazilian error and put GB within touching distance of a quarter final.

06:20 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 6-3, 3-3 Haddad Maia/Stefani*

Boulter hits a second double fault of the match to gift Brazil a 15-30 lead - the first time she has been a point behind on serve - before Brazil make the most of a Boulter groundstroke clipping the net and sitting up to be hit to get two breakpoints.

The first is defended well, Watson wisely opting to leave a passing shot that lands long, and Watson defends the second too! The Brits miscommunicate and allow a moonball to land with nobody’s name on it, but Watson forces an error from the Haddad Maia to give us our first deuce.

Boulter immediately serves an ace return for advantage, but fails to take it in a long rally where it’s evident that the Brazilians are trying to avoid hitting to Watson’s volley.

She forges herself another, though, but Brazil continue to target her on the baseline, Haddad Maia cannoning a left handed forehand down the line to win the point. Two good serves follow, however, and GB win the game despite significant pressure. The British faithful in the crowd are no doubt lending a hand, matching and at times exceeding the vociferous Brazilian contingent.

06:10 PM BST

Boulter/Watson* 6-3, 2-3 Haddad Maia/Stefani

As has been the pattern for both pairs, first serves aren’t presenting much of an opportunity where second serves definitely are - both were hovering around 80% points won rates from first serves in the first set. Haddad Maia lands all but one and holds to 15.

06:06 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 6-3, 2-2 Haddad Maia/Stefani*

Watson holds for Great Britain, taking longer than hoped owing to some poorly executed smashes, the first of which returned very well by Haddad Maia on the full. Boulter closes the game out with a typical doubles point: Good serve down the middle, loopy return, unreturnable volley.

06:02 PM BST

Boulter/Watson* 6-3, 1-2 Haddad Maia/Stefani

More impressive Watson volleying gives the Brits a 15-30 lead but they’re pegged back when she sends a sliding backhand slice wide. Boulter puts too much into a forehand return to Stefani’s second serve to squander a chance at breakpoint, and then mis-hits at the net to give Brazil a hold - the crowd duly respond.

05:58 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 6-3, 1-1 Haddad Maia/Stefani*

The Boulter serve continues to impress - she’s the best singles player on this court and that element of her game certainly shows it. Watson, whose singles career was successful in its own right, has remodelled herself as a doubles player in years of late and the stop-it-dead volley to close out the game to love also certainly shows it.

05:56 PM BST

Boulter/Watson* 6-3, 0-1 Haddad Maia/Stefani

The Brazilian crowd is undeterred by their pair going a set down, and propel them onto a 40-0 lead. Boulter and Watson grind out two points to make it 40-30 before losing the game, but they’ll be happy with more, bonus pressure on the Brazilian serve for now.

05:48 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 6-3 Haddad Maia/Stefani*

Boulter and Watson take the first set! They respond with their own hold to love and wrap up the set in 36 minutes.

They deserve it, too. Heather Watson has been particularly impressive at the net, whilst Boulter’s serve has been unshakeable. There haven’t been any deuces so far but serve pressure has been coming from the British side.

They definitely targeted Stefani’s serve. She’s the only of the four to never have a substantial singles career, and doubles players’ serves tend not to be as dominant as singles players given a teammate at the net significantly increases the margin for error. She held to love in her second service game but the damage was done in the first.

Boulter and Watson took it upon themselves to up the energy levels in the face of constant Brazilian noise in the crowd, celebrating each point more once they’d broken. All in all really fairly faultless doubles tennis from the Brits.

05:47 PM BST

Boulter/Watson* 5-3 Haddad Maia/Stefani

Stefani holds to love, a mixture of accurate serving, unforced errors, and one well-won rally. The Brits now serve for the set...

05:44 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 5-2 Haddad Maia/Stefani*

A lovely Haddad Maia slice down the line starves Watson’s backhand of any space to give the Brazilian’s a 15-30 lead, but Watson makes amends the next point. Boulter’s reflexes out-classes Haddad Maia’s at the net and Watson is able to close out the game with some more good groundstroking.

Both Brits are getting particularly good purchase from hitting baseline shots in between the Brazilian pair, and they’re now one game from winning the set.

05:39 PM BST

Boulter/Watson* 4-2 Haddad Maia/Stefani

Some unforced errors from GB give Brazil an unassailable 40-15 lead, but Watson’s volleying has looked immaculate so far. When Boulter has kept her groundstrokes over the net Watson has gobbled everything up within her hitting radius.

05:35 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 4-1 Haddad Maia/Stefani*

It’s up to Boulter to push home the advantage and she does so emphatically, the Brazilians are struggling with her first serve. The captain obvious statement would be she needs to stick to it when a double fault is followed by another good first serve that allows Watson to win a volley exchange. The Brits celebrate as their lead is extended.

There’s then a brief but interesting exchange as the umpire asks Haddad Maia to remove the branding from one of her water bottles.

05:31 PM BST

Boulter/Watson* 3-1 Haddad Maia/Stefani

The Stefani serve faces its first test now and the on the second point it’s absolutely dismissed cross court by Heather Watson’s forehand. She then steps up to dissect the Brazilians with a volley to earn a first breakpoint...

And it’s taken! Watson shows the full array of her skills with a nicely weighted lob forcing a backfoot smash from the Brazilians, Boulter’s follow-up is hit well and Watson takes the break with a smash. Advantage GB and the British members of the crowd get stuck in as you might expect.

05:25 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 2-1 Haddad Maia/Stefani*

Watson with her first service game now, the Brits deliberately taking their time to catch their breaths and talk tactics between points. Mind you they’re being given plenty of time to as the umpire tries to calm the crowd down. ‘Let’s go GB’ chants can be considered poking the bear...

Brazil have their first breakpoint, but it’s saved as Boulter squeezes the gap down the line and forces Stefani wide. She then gets the better of her in a volley exchange and Watson finds some good power on her groundstroking to close out the game.

05:20 PM BST

Boulter/Watson* 1-1 Haddad Maia/Stefani

Haddad Maia is serving first for Brazil, and either side take points from longer rallies to go 30-30 but errors from both British players off second serves gives Brazil the game and the crowd a prompt to sing.

05:15 PM BST

Boulter/Watson 1-0 Haddad Maia/Stefani*

Not wanting to be outdone the British support give zealous cheers to each British point as they go 30-0 up, but the Brazilian celebrations of their first point is overzealous. Boulter closes out the game with some ace returns and GB go 1-0 up. It’s perhaps said too often in sport but the crowd are really taking this round of 16 match up a notch.

05:12 PM BST

Top atmosphere building

Judging by the looks on their faces, I’m not sure the players expected this match to have such vocal support! The Brazilian section of the crowd is sizeable and buoyant to say the least. The umpire is having a tough time announcing the game on her microphone over the noise.

There is a decent GB section too, but their hymn book isn’t quite as expansive. Boulter to serve first...

05:08 PM BST

Here come the players

The players have emerged onto Court 6, and to quite a respectable Brazilian contingent in the crowd who are full of song. Some GB corners try to match it with chants of ‘Let’s go GB’ - not quite sure it has the same ring as the ‘Let’s go Andy’s’ that have been omnipresent at Murray matches over the last 15 years.

05:01 PM BST

Not long now

The Ebden/Peers vs Koepfer/Struff match has concluded, the Aussies winning 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4) just now. They await the winner of Andy Murray and Dan Evans’ next match...

04:59 PM BST

What would be next for Boulter/Watson

Should Katie Boulter and Heather Watson beat the Brazilians this afternoon, there would be no let off with Italy’s Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini waiting for them having beaten France’s Caroline Garcia and Diane Parry yesterday.

The odds would be stacked quite high against the Brits in that fixture; Paolini is in the form of her life having reached two singles Slam finals this year despite exiting the singles here in Paris. More pertinent is that the Italians will have had an extra day’s rest - the temperature has been consistently above 30 degrees today so rest and recovery time is at a premium. The heat has already claimed one British victim in the tennis so far...

04:40 PM BST

When will Boulter/Watson start

The British pair on due next on Court 6, they’re currently waiting for the conclusion of the men’s doubles match between Germany’s Dominik Koepfer and Jan-Lennard Struff, and Australia’s John Peers and Mathew Ebden.

Ebden is a bit more actively engaged in this one than his round one 6-0, 6-1 trouncing by Novak Djokovic in which he asked any crowd members if they’d like to take over. He is of course a doubles specialist and is a set to the good in his current match.

He will be serving to stay in the second set now, though - Koepfer and Struff are 5-4 up and hoping to take this to a decider.

04:28 PM BST

Murray proves that anything is possible

The hunger that Heather Watson will have that I mentioned in the previous post is demonstrably not something to be underestimated. Two certified greats of the game, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, are playing their career/Olympic swansongs and have resorted to every bit of emotional energy in their doubles campaigns so far.

Murray, with partner Dan Evans, have fought back from no less than seven match points in their two matches, including five consecutive ones in their first against Japan’s Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori, and two more yesterday against Belgium’s Sander Gillė and Joran Vliegan, both victories seeing the veterans jumping for joy like excitable children.

Nadal, meanwhile, was taken to a third set super-tiebreak with partner Carlos Alcaraz by Dutch pair Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Kolhoof, and gave it full beans for his celebration after almost single-handedly pulling Alcaraz through the tiebreak.

Athletes love nothing more than attributing something as the ‘last dance’ and performing out of their skins to fulfil the emotional weighting. If Watson can approach this match like that against top class doubles opponents, it will go a long way in taking the Brits to victory.

03:47 PM BST

Can Evans/Murray heroics be emulated?

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Katie Boulter and Heather Watson’s women’s doubles match against Brazilian sixth seeds Beatriz Haddad Maia and Luisa Stefani.

The pair are GB’s last remaining hopes in women’s tennis in Paris: Boulter was knocked out of the singles in her first round match 6-4, 6-2 against Slovakia’s Anna Schmiedlova, who has since reached a semi-final having beaten Haddad Maia in the consequent round, as well as Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova. Watson, in her fourth Olympics, meanwhile, was knocked out of the mixed doubles 7-5, 4-6, [10-3] with her partner Joe Salisbury at the hands of Canadian pair Gabriela Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

That loss to the Canadians yesterday came just two matches after Watson secured passage to this match with Boulter against the Brazilians, their victory being a straight sets 6-2, 6-3 win over Germany’s well-established pair of Angelique Kerber and Laura Siegemund.

They face similarly tough opponents today, Haddad Maia a former world number ten in singles, Roland Garros semi-finalist in 2023, and seven-time doubles title winner on the WTA Tour, Stefani a mixed doubles Grand Slam winner, and bronze medallist from Tokyo.

However, the Olympics so far has favoured teams with on-form singles players like Coco Gauff and Paolini; Boulter breached the world top 30 for the first time this year and beat Emma Raducanu on her way to winning the Nottingham Open in April, as well as Haddad Maia on her way to winning the San Diego Open - the Brazilian must be sick of the sight of Boulter.

With Watson, she can lean on considerable Olympic experience and hunger, given this is likely the 32-year-old’s fourth and final crack at an Olympic medal - a win today would equal her Olympic career best when she reached the quarters with Andy Murray in 2016.

“It was the biggest goal for me this last 12 months to make another Olympic Games,” said Watson.

“I’m at the back end of my career now so I think I just appreciate moments like this even more.

“I’m here to win. I’d do anything to get a medal, so I’m looking forward to getting out on that court and giving it my absolute best effort.”