A breakthrough year for British number 1 Katie Boulter ended with heartwarming news as she announced her engagement to Australian world number 9 Alex De Minaur.
“We’ve been keeping a little secret,” Boulter, 28, said in an Instagram post showing off her diamond ring.
The relationship is said to date back to 2020 and almost never got off to a good start after Boulter initially declined De Minaur’s invitation for coffee.
“That was hard to accept,” De Minaur told Tennis Channel earlier this year, “but being as persistent as I am, I asked again and she said ‘Maybe’. So we continued with that, and here we are.”
Love matches are hardly uncommon in tennis, although the majority never reach the altar. Other pairings to ring the wedding bells include Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, Fabio Fognini and Flavia Pennetta, and most recently Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina.
There’s also the romance that blossomed between Roger Federer and Miroslava ‘Mirka’ Vavrinec at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Although Mirka is now better known as the power behind Federer’s throne, she was a marginal member of the top 100 at the time. in the world who would. falling victim to a career-ending foot injury.
Boulter and De Minaur both finish 2024 in their best position in the rankings at this stage of the season (No. 24, in her case). Both also won two titles this year, and they doubled down in early March when she won San Diego and he won Acapulco on the same weekend.
In his interview with Tennis Channel, which took place shortly after that double victory, the 25-year-old De Minaur said the relationship had helped him develop a healthier attitude towards his day job. “She’s kind of given me a different perspective on how to get results,” he said. “I used to live and die for the results, but now I have learned to enjoy the process and everything that comes with it. Thanks to her, I have learned to deal with these losses a little better.”
However, New Year’s Day could spell trouble when Britain faces Australia in the United Cup team event for the second year running.
Last year, Great Britain won both singles matches – with Boulter beating Ajla Tomljanovic – meaning there was nothing in the potentially match-clinching mixed-doubles rubber. De Minaur was left out of Australia’s mixed doubles team anyway, but this year it could be a different story when the teams meet in Sydney on January 1.
“I wouldn’t say I was happy with the idea of playing him all over again,” Boulter said recently. “He is a top ten player and he knows how to play tennis, so there is one side to it. Then there’s the personal side of it, which is difficult, but also great for bragging rights.”
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