JODIE Burrage’s wait for a first main tour title continues as she was defeated by fellow Brit Katie Boulter in the Rothesay Nottingham Open final.

Boulter, who is from Leicester and considers this her home tournament, beat Burrage 6-3 6-3 in the first all-British final at this level since 1977.

She had only ever gone to a quarter-final before but now follows Johanna Konta as a British winner here, cementing her position as British number one and surging up the rankings to inside the top 80.

Despite defeat, it was also a breakout week for Burrage, who reached her first WTA Tour final.

Playing at Nottingham has always meant a lot to Boulter, with her mum and granddad able to watch, and she made sure this was going to be her moment from the off as she surged into a 3-0 lead in the first set thanks to an early break.

Burrage has had some long matches this week and after a recent injury said she was “hanging by a thread” physically, and she struggled to match her compatriot throughout.

Boulter broke again but she missed her first chance to serve out the set, only to quickly settle any nerves by breaking Burrage for a third time to take the opening set.

Another early break in the second set tightened her grip on the match and it never loosened, claiming victory and her maiden title on her second championship point.

After the match there was a warm embrace between the pair, who are good friends, as Boulter enjoyed her moment.

Burrage shared: “Bit gutted today. Tough match that, Boults played absolutely incredible – didn’t let me play at all, so credit to her.

“But, for me this has been such a positive week. I’ve beaten some really good players this week, proved myself a lot of things, so I’m only going to take the positives.”

The 24-year-old, who attended Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth, continued: “I’m just thinking about my match in two days, to be honest with you. But I’ll take the positives from this, take confidence from it, and hopefully play some good tennis in the upcoming months.

“I just wanted to take time to say thank you to my team.

“All my brothers are here, and my mum, which is very unusual. The only one missing is my dad – happy Father’s Day!

“He’s back at home with the dogs, probably loving it, but I wish he was here today. But thank you guys for being here. It means a lot to me, you help me so much.

“Well done to Boults, like I said you played an incredible match. Hopefully we can play many more finals like this together in the future.”