TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
LSU’s Kayla Cross will try to follow the biggest win of her professional career – an upset of No. 69 and former top 25 player Katie Boulter on Monday – in the second round of the National Bank Open on Wednesday against No. 31-ranked Ann Li (Tennis Channel, WTA TV) in Toronto, Canada.
The victory was Cross’ first in a World Tennis Associaton Masters 1000 tournament.
“I’m definitely shocked,” Cross said. “I think I said, ‘Oh my gosh,’ a few times while I was walking up to the net. It still doesn’t really feel real, so I’m just trying to soak it all in. I got a text message asking if I wanted to be on Center Court (today), and I obviously said yes right away. The game plan going in was to try and play my game, go for the shots, live in the moment and be happy out there.”
Cross, a native of London, Canada, who was a sophomore on LSU’s 2025-26 team, opened the match with steady play, as the two traded service games for much of the opening set. Cross forged ahead with the first break of the match, taking a 5-3 advantage before Boulter fired right back to get back o in n serve at 5-5. Little separated the two as they entered the first-set tiebreaker upon reaching 6-6. Cross built an early lead at 4-1 and refused to let it slip, maintaining her cushion as she closed the set 7-6 (3).
Boulter kept herself in the match, holding the lead over Cross through the middle stages of the second set. The Tiger faced break points at 2-2, and again at 4-4, but held strong to remain on serve. In the final stretch, Cross leveled up at 5-5 to steal the decisive break of the match, securing the final two games and completing the straight-sets win with a second-set score of 7-5.
The win came just two weeks after she captured the previous biggest title of her professional career and a career-high world ranking of No. 168 at the WTT W75 Granby in Quebec, Canada.
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