A breakthrough year for British No 1 Katie Boulter ended with heartwarming news when she announced her engagement to Alex De Minaur, the Australian world No 9.
“We’ve been keeping a small secret,” said Boulter, 28, in a post on Instagram which showed off her diamond ring.
The relationship is understood to date back to 2020, and almost never got off the starting line after Boulter initially declined De Minaur’s invitation to coffee.
“That was tough to take,” De Minaur told the Tennis Channel earlier this year, “but being the persistent person that I am, I asked again and she said ‘Maybe’. So we went with that, and here we are.”
Love matches are hardly uncommon in tennis, although the majority never reach the altar. Other combinations that have gone on to ring wedding bells include Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, Fabio Fognini and Flavia Pennetta, and most recently Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina.
There is also the romance that blossomed between Roger Federer and Miroslava “Mirka” Vavrinec at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Although Mirka is now better known as the power behind the Federer throne, she was then a fringe member of the world’s top 100 who would fall victim to a career-ending foot injury.
Boulter and De Minaur both finish 2024 at their best position in the rankings ladder at this stage of the season (No 24, in her case). Both also won two titles this year, and they doubled up in early March when she won San Diego and he won Acapulco on the same weekend.
In his interview with the Tennis Channel, which came shortly after that double triumph, 25-year-old De Minaur said that 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 take results,” he said. “I used to live and die by the results, but now I’ve learned to enjoy the process and everything that comes with it. Thanks to her I’ve learned to deal with these losses a little bit better.”
However, New Year’s Day could throw a curveball when Great Britain face Australia in the United Cup team event for the second year in a row.
Last year, Great Britain won both singles matches – with Boulter defeating Ajla Tomljanovic – which meant that there was nothing riding on the potentially match-clinching mixed-doubles rubber. De Minaur was left out of Australia’s mixed-doubles team in any case, but this year could be a different story when the teams meet in Sydney on Jan 1.
“I wouldn’t say I was thrilled at the idea of playing him all over again,” Boulter said recently. “He’s a top-ten player and he knows how to play tennis, so there’s one side of it. Then there’s the personal side of it, which is difficult but also great for bragging rights.”
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