Alex de Minaur’s ‘not ideal’ admission about Katie Boulter relationship amid Wimbledon campaign
They are one of the highest-profile couples in tennis.
ATP Tour star Alex de Minaur and WTA Tour ace Katie Boulter announced their engagement last December, news that delighted tennis fans after a years-long relationship.
De Minaur and Boulter’s relationship often attracts attention, and for some, anticipation is already building ahead of their wedding, believed to be taking place next year.
However, their relationship faces extra attention at Grand Slams, particularly in de Minaur’s home major in Australia and Boulter’s home major at Wimbledon.
A popular figure at SW19, Boulter had full support from her home crowd at the All England Club last week, and defied a difficult year to pick up one of the biggest wins of her career in round one.
In a thrilling battle inside Centre Court, the 28-year-old defeated ninth seed Paula Badosa 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to reach the second round, a win she described as one of her best ever.
However, in a season marred by injury issues and a drop in the WTA Rankings, Boulter was unable to back that up, losing 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-1 to lucky loser Solana Sierra in the second round.
While Boulter’s campaign was coming to an end on Wednesday, de Minaur was in the middle of his own.
Playing on alternate days to his partner, the Australian beat Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(2) on Tuesday, before returning to court on Thursday.
The 11th seed in the men’s singles draw, de Minaur sealed his place in the third round with a rallying 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 triumph over qualifier Arthur Cazaux.
Victory for the 26-year-old came less than 24 hours after Boulter’s defeat to Sierra out on Court One, a situation that de Minaur admitted is never easy to navigate at any tournament.
“There’s no real rule book that you can go on, but it’s not ideal,” he said, after his round two win.
“It’s not nice. I felt for Katie yesterday [Wednesday], and I’ve been in those positions myself. It’s not easy by any means to forget about it. It’s something that kind of stays with you.
“On my side, there’s obviously the part of doing my best to comfort her and try to be there for her the same way she is there for me through the good stuff and the bad stuff.
“It definitely does have a little bit of impact on yourself, and you’ve got to do your best to try and have a mental reset and kind of shift your focus towards yourself and realise that you do have a match the following day that you’ve got to prepare for, it’s not going to be an easy one, it’s going to be a battle.
“It’s a lot of different aspects to deal with, which aren’t easy, I think I can get better at, but that’s experience.”
Boulter and de Minaur started dating in 2020, though, at Wimbledon, their relationship first came to the forefront back during the 2022 Championships.
On the first Wednesday of the tournament, Boulter stunned former world No 1 and 2021 runner-up Karolina Pliskova in the second round, before de Minaur ended the hopes of home favourite Jack Draper.
Unsurprisingly, the Australian had not been the crowd favourite during his four-set triumph out on Court One, though he quickly won over fans by celebrating Boulter’s win in his post-match speech.
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As his relationship with the former British No 1 has grown in prominence, and with more appearances at both Wimbledon and Queen’s under his belt, de Minaur has felt a big swing in British support.
He added: “I’ve felt an amazing shift of support the last three or four years, and spending a lot more time here in the UK, it’s been quite special. It feels like I’m growing roots here.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be around the grounds in Wimbledon when the tournament is not on. I’ve been able to train here. I’ve been able to be here with Katie. So I’ve kind of been able to see a shift between it being a club into a Grand Slam.
“All those aspects all the way from spending some time together, being at home, knowing the location a lot better, it definitely gives you an overall better feeling as you go into this tournament.”
Ranked 11th in the world, de Minaur is undoubtedly one of the elite players on the ATP Tour.
However, he may well need that full crowd support on Monday, with a fourth-round clash versus sixth seed and 24-time champion Novak Djokovic waiting for him.
De Minaur has beaten the Serbian before, defeating Djokovic at the United Cup in 2024, though the former world No 1 has won both their other meetings.
The two were meant to meet in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last year, before the Australian had to pull out due to a hip injury sustained in his round-four victory.
The 26-year-old is a skilled grass-courter, but Djokovic is a seven-time Wimbledon champion, and many people’s pick for the title this year.
“Novak has completed the game, right? He’s broken all the records,” said de Minaur, who beat August Holmgren in round three.
“It’s amazing for him to still be showing up and still showing that fire and desire to win more, right?
“He’s a player that can find motivation and fire from anything, and that’s extremely dangerous. You kind of don’t want to give him something to get motivated about because then you’ll definitely see his absolute best side.
“Obviously I know what to expect from him. So it’s not going to be something where I’m on the court, and he hits some good shots, and I’m going to be like: ‘Oh, where did that come from?’ I know what he’s capable of. So that will be in the back of my mind.
“I’m expecting him to bring some of his best tennis, as he so often does in Grand Slams. So I see it as a challenge, and that’s what I want. These are the matches I want to be playing.”
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