Katie Boulter returned to Wimbledon on Monday afternoon to watch her fiance Alex De Minaur take on Novak Djokovic in the Fourth Round of the Men’s Singles on Centre Court.
It comes after the British tennis star, was knocked out in the second round of the Ladies’ Singles by Argentinian, Solana Sierra, suffering a 7-6(9) 2-6 1-6 defeat.
On Monday, she returned to Wimbledon to once again support her beau, De Minaur, who has become a big favourite among many British fans at Wimbledon this week.
The 26-year-old Aussie, who has dropped out of the ATP Tour’s top-10 rankings prior to the Grand Slam, advanced to set up a fourth-round tie with Djokovic after beating all of Roberto Carballes Baena, Arthur Cazaux and August Holmgren.
And he got off to a flying start against the seven-time Wimbledon champion, Djokovic on Monday afternoon, breaking the former world No 1 in the opening game.
De Minaur then showed his resilience, holding on in the second to save a break point, before his 38-year-old opponent would shockingly double fault in the fifth game, to concede a 4-1 lead and a second break.
Katie Boulter (right) arrived on Centre Court on Monday morning to cheer on her fiance Alex De Minuar
The Aussie star (pictured) was taking on Novak Djokovic in the Fourth Round of the Men’s Singles
Boulter has been seen supporting her beau throughout the fortnight at Wimbledon, with the pair having announced the exciting news last year that they were engaged
Boulter was seen raising her fist in the air as her fiance sealed the first set, 6-1, after forcing Djokovic to strike the ball into the net.
It was an uncharacteristic start for the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who struck 17 unforced errors in the opening set.
Boulter, meanwhile, who has a house with her partner De Minaur near to Wimbledon, raised concerns last week about her future at the Championships, following her second-round exit.
‘It’s a really tough pill to swallow,’ the 28-year-old said. ‘It’s always been tough here.
‘Sometimes I just have to accept that my moment might not come. Ultimately that’s all I can do and keep putting myself out there and keep improving every single year.’
Her highest placing at Wimbledon came in 2022, which she later matched in 2023, where the world No 43 reached the third-round of the Grand Slam. She had also been in good form coming into this year’s event, reaching the quarter-finals of the WTA250 in Nottingham in June, while also winning the WTA125 Trophee Clarins in France, the month before.
‘You can look at a piece of paper and be like: “Oh, this is a terrible loss”. But I don’t necessarily feel like I completely lost the match,’ Boulter added.
‘Last year [after losing to Harriet Dart] I probably sat here and said I lost the match. This year I’m not going to say that. I think she played a good match.’
De Minaur faces a tough challenge against seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic (pictured)
Boulter (pictured) fist-bumped the air as De Minuar took the first set 6-1 after forcing his Serbian opponent to make several errors
De Minaur spoke last week over how it had been difficult trying to support his fiancee after her Wimbledon exit last week, while trying to focus on progressing in the Men’s Singles
Djokovic (pictured) was erroneous in the opening set, conceding 16 unforced mistakes
Boulter’s defeat by Sierra came just 24 hours before De Minaur had been due to face Cazaux in the second round, with the Aussie going on to seal a 4-6 6-2 6-4 6-0 victory against the Frenchman.
After that match, De Minaur revealed that it was never easy trying to support your partner while also trying to navigate a Grand Slam.
‘There’s no real rule book that you can go on, but it’s not ideal,’ he said.
‘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.’
More to follow…
