“Katie Boulter’s given me bit of slack” - Alex de Minaur jokes about girlfriend giving him a hard time for missing her title win in Nottingham
Alex de Minaur joked about his girlfriend Katie Boulter giving him a hard time for missing out on her Rothesay Open final against Karolina Pliskova, where the Birt prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to successfully defend her title. Interestingly, the Aussie won the Libema Open a few hours before Boulter's final, defeating Sebastian Korda 6-2, 6-4.
Speaking about Boulter's win in Nottingham, de Minaur called it 'surreal'. He felt that the way Boulter managed to overcome the challenges and the pressure to defend the title showed what an absolute fighter she was and deserved the triumph.
"It’s surreal honestly. What she was able to achieve under the circumstance to defend her title, at home, first week on the grass, baking up semis and final on the same day, it’s completely surreal and yeah, got my word, absolutely fighter and deserves it all," the Aussie said.
When asked if he watched the match, the 25-year-old said that he watched the first set but had to catch a flight so couldn't watch the rest of it. However, he did manage to see the ending. De Minaur felt that Boulter was going to have a hard time coming back from a set down but was impressed after she lifted the title.
"Yeah, i watched the first set as I’m waiting on the pl ane to depart and then as soon as I landed, i was able to watch kind of the end of the match. So, safe to say when I was flying, i had no idea what the score was but she obviously lost the first set but yeah, I thought it was going to be tough for her to kind of comeback after everything that had gone on that day but she just came back, she fought super hard, complete warrior, and got the win and was able to lift the title, so, amazing."
Alex de Minaur also joked how Boulter gave him a tough time for missing out on her final but eventually understood how he was under a time constraint, having just won in 's-Hertogenbosch. He also was surprised that this was the second time this year that they won titles within hours of each other, referring to de Minaur's win in Acapulco which was followed by Boulter's win in San Diego a day later.
"Yeah, she’s given a little bit of slack, but I think she kind of understands that, you know, maybe I was on a little bit of a time constraint and did my very best, but yeah, it was an unbelievable week for both of us and can’t believe that it’s the second time it has happened this year," Alex de Minaur added.
Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter's grass swing faces setback
Despite having a great start to their grass swing this year, Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter have suffered setbacks in their respective second tournament of the swing.
While de Minaur entered the Queen's Club Championships, where he was the runner-up last year, Boulter entered the Birmingham Classic.
The Aussie was seeded second and faced Lorenzo Musetti in the opening match. After comfortably taking the first, the Italian put up a resilient fight to cause an upset and win the match 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The Brit, on the other hand, seeded fourth, played Anhelina Kalinina. Boulter decided to withdraw due to an illness after the Ukrainian took the first set 6-3.