- 1,612
- 9
- 38
This was the first all-British semi-final at tour level since Sue Barker and Virginia Wade used to meet regularly in the latter stages of tournaments in the 1970s.
Grass suits Boulter's hard, flat hitting and she broke the Watson serve to lead 3-2 before a rain delay of an hour-and-a-half disrupted things.
Watson immediately broke back on the resumption, but, with both women complaining about line calls, Boulter moved ahead again before clinching the set.
Watson looked set to take it to a decider when she led 4-1 in the second set, but Boulter saved four break points in the sixth game to stay in contention and won six of the last seven games.
There had been tension between Boulter and Dart at the net over the former's celebration, but here the two players shared a lengthy hug.
"I'm hungry to go play Birmingham, I'm hungry for the tournaments after that. I don't want to stop. I don't want to just win a couple of matches, I've got more to come," said Boulter, who can set a new career-high ranking in the top 80 if she can emulate Johanna Konta and the late Elena Baltacha - after whom the trophy is named - by winning the title.
"It's so good to be back (in the top 100) and I really hope it's a stepping stone to pushing back in and really giving it a shot, because I felt I didn't get a full chance when I was ranked 80.
"I wanted to play a full year where I could have a swing and see what happens."