It jolted me up straight in my seat. Bam! Katie Boulter’s first service ace smacked the sideboard of the court just to the left of me. I went from slouched over iPhone browser to engaged observer in a split second. The photographer to my left moved closer to me. “I don’t want to get hit by one of those,” she whispered.

Boulter is about 6 feet tall and most of that is legs. When she uses that leverage to drive her first serves, the result is usually loud. The British champion, who says “Please, excuse me, and thank you,” to the ball boys and girls, is not so polite to the tennis balls she crushes during a match.

Emma Navarro, (No. 23) of the USA, found that out the hard way in the semi-finals. Down 3-1 after being broken early in the second set, Navarro had her chance to get back in the match when she had three break points on Boulter in the fifth game. But Boulter served three straight aces and then hit a winner to take the game, go up 4-1, and salt away the match.

Boulter went on to win the tournament by defeating Marta Kostyuk (No. 32) of Ukraine, earning her first WTA 500 title, and improving her world ranking from No. 49 to No. 27.

“I’m very happy with this week. I think I like it here in San Diego,” Boulter said. “To be here right now and getting wins day in and day out with people ranked higher than me, it does feel good. I have a lot of confidence going into the next few weeks.”

For tournament director Ryan Redondo, those words made his challenging week, which had players dodging raindrops and court dryers on standby, a lot happier.

“At a 500-level tournament like this, which has nearly a $1 million purse ($922,573 in prize money), but is a tier below a 1,000 level, players with lower rankings have a chance to gain valuable experience, improve their confidence, and breakthrough,” Redondo said. “It’s a testament to Katie Boulter that she did that – upsetting higher-ranked players to win.”

This year’s field included only one top 10 player, No. 5 Jessica Pegula (who lost to Kostyuk in the semi-finals), but did have former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki as a wild card entry and (No. 11) Karolina Muchova in the main draw. Those three aren’t slouches, but previous years saw the San Diego Open host (No. 1) Iga Swiatek, (No. 3) Coco Gauff, and (No. 6) Ons Jabeur.

Because the WTA initiated circuit changes for 2024, San Diego was moved from September to February/March right before the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells (which started on March 6). The thinking was top players would use the San Diego Open as a tune-up before heading east to Palm Springs. But those top-ranked players were competing at the 1,000-level Dubai Tennis Championships the week before San Diego.

“Well, some players rested,” Redondo said. “It’s a new schedule and we have to figure those things out. We still had a strong playing field. And the feedback I received from the fans, the WTA, and the players was overwhelmingly positive. The players like being in San Diego.”

Redondo even hooked up some players with Gulls hockey tickets. “The players appreciate the intimacy of this tournament. Fans are close to the action and it’s a beautiful venue, and even though it’s a smaller stadium, it looks good on TV.”

Tucked just south of I-8 and east of Nimitz Boulevard, Barnes Tennis Center went all out for fans with Instagrammable setups, pro and gift shops, and a cocktail bar where patrons sipped margaritas and watched players on the warm-up courts.

Inside Barnes Stadium Court there are 2,625 seats and not one bad sightline to be seen. Fans can sit up close and personal to watch these tremendously impressive athletes, although they may have to duck some strong serves.

Sitting courtside in the media section on Saturday, the small talk with my colleagues turned to the weather as the cloudy morning cleared to a sunny afternoon for the semi-finals. But after Boulter won the first set, the marine layer moved in, and a short rain shower suspended play. Afterward, as the towels mopped up and dryer machines hummed, a vivid rainbow settled over Stadium Court. I didn’t find a pot of gold anywhere, but I did think that the city is richer for having the San Diego Open.