Love is in the air! Aussie star Alex de Minaur will celebrate reaching his first Queen’s final by dashing to Eastbourne to spend time with ‘inspirational’ British No 1 girlfriend Katie Boulter
- De Minaur has revealed how he will celebrate reaching his first Queen’s final
- The Aussie tennis star has opened up on his ‘inspirational’ girlfriend Boulter’
- Boulter won her maiden WTA singles crown in Nottingham last week
Alex de Minaur will celebrate reaching his first Queen’s final by dashing to Eastbourne for some love doubles with his girlfriend Katie Boulter.
Newly crowned British No 1 Boulter was courtside at Queen’s earlier in the week, but missed seeing the Australian’s surprise straight-set victory over Danish second seed Holger Rune, 6-3 7-6 (7-2).
Boulter hit the top spot by winning her maiden WTA singles crown in Nottingham last week and yesterday the 26-year-old from Leicester was on the south coast preparing for the Eastbourne tournament.
A beaming de Minaur said: ‘I was inspired by her last week. I think she put in a hell of a performance.
‘She went out there, had a great week, made the final, and then the biggest match of her career, she played one of the best matches I’ve ever seen her.
Alex de Minaur reached his first Queen’s final where he will face Carlos Alcaraz
He’ll celebrate by dashing to Eastbourne for some love doubles with his girlfriend Katie Boulter
Boulter was courtside earlier this week but missed her boyfriend making it to the Queen’s final
‘To be able to stand and deliver in that crucial point and win her first title, I was, like, “Yeah! I’ve got to watch what she’s doing and learn myself”.
‘I think I have tried to replicate that a little bit this week and just be nice and calm, have a positive mindset. It definitely helps. I’ve got to get a couple more tips from Katie.’
The life of constant travel on the tennis tours means there are few relationships between professional players, so Boulter and de Minaur will relish the chance to compete at the same event at Eastbourne — and then again at Wimbledon.
De Minaur, 24, ranked 18th in the world, added: ‘She’s playing Eastbourne next week, and she’s getting ready for that. It was amazing that she was able to come to Queen’s Club for a couple days though.
‘It’s always good when we’re both at the same tournament. You know, we just need a little bit of help not playing at the same time so we can support each other, for sure.’
De Minaur will rise to 16th in the world on the back of his results at Queen’s, where he started the week by beating Andy Murray, the former British men’s No 1, in straight sets 6-3 6-1.
The Australian knows he will have to raise his game to another level to beat top seed Carlos Alcaraz in today’s final.
He predicted: ‘It’s going to be an absolute battle. I’ll try to do a bit like I did in the semi-final, try to dictate and not get pushed around, because that’s when I play my best tennis.’