sport news Tennis love birds Katie Boulter and Alex de Minaur tell all about their ... trends now
Alex de Minaur, world No 11 tennis player and part-time resident of Spain, is sitting in Madrid on a Clasico weekend, describing, deadpan, how he is a follower of Leicester City now.
'I'm definitely Leicester. I've learned to love Leicester,' he relates.
This revelation, it must be said, has required a little encouragement from the individual sitting to his right. That would be Katie Boulter, world No 28 and British No 1, whose introduction of De Minaur to the sights of her beloved Leicestershire have included their drive past the King Power Stadium and trip into the club shop, which saw him leave with a Leicester City football. Though how personally motivated he was to possess one remains a matter of some conjecture.
'She made me buy a Leicester football,' De Minaur relates, breaking into a grin.
'That's a lie! You bought that by yourself!' Boulter retorts.
Katie Boulter and Alex de Minaur are the love birds taking tennis by storm (pictured above)
Mail Sport challenged the couple (pictured above) to a Mr & Mr quiz during our interview
Anyway, Boulter has the photographic evidence of the trip. 'I drove him up to the door and told him to get out so I could take a picture! To prove he's a Leicester City supporter! So I have that on my phone!'
It seems appropriate to test De Minaur's knowledge of his 'new' team's personnel, by requesting the Australian name a favourite player. 'You can't go away from Vardy,' he replies - eliciting an enthusiastic 'nailed it!' from Boulter. 'He's iconic. He's a character and I've enjoyed watching him through the years.' De Minaur's 'other' club, is Real Madrid. 'My mum was born in Madrid and she was hard core Madrid fan so there's a connection,' he says.
De Minaur and Boulter have been together for four years now, though it only takes half an hour or so in their company to see why the relationship works. The contrasting personalities - Boulter the more extrovert and relaxed in an environment like this: 'I'm the more chilled out one!' she says; De Minaur a wry, drole foil to her - and a readiness to take the rise out of each other.
Boulter's Instagram posts have featured De Minaur being serenaded by the entire occupants of the bar they were in on his last birthday. 'Happy Birthday my love! Some world class birthday embarrassment,' she wrote. And then there's De Minaur in his Grinch Christmas jumper stating 'Merry Whatever' and Boulter's matching one, declaring: 'He hates Christmas.' Her idea, she admits.
'That, from day one has been our relationship,' 25-year-old De Minaur relates. 'We give each other a little crap from time to time and we don't take it to heart. It's always fun.'
There was a time, as their relationship was starting, when one would head down for breakfast at tournaments 10 minutes before the other and they would sit at different tables to maintain a secrecy about it. But this conversation reflects the way that they are becoming comfortable about a public persona as a couple - here in Madrid, at the high-profile Laureus awards, where they stepped onto the red carpet. And beyond the jokes, it is evident that those differences in personality have helped each other in the tennis pressure pot.
They hit together sometimes, most typically off-the-cuff, outside of training routines, perhaps when one of them wants to rally under the lights and there is no-one else around to do that. 'And obviously when I'm having a tough day and I feel Iike I need to beat him at targets. There is the odd day like that!,' 27-year-old Boulter adds.
'I'm the confi-booster!,' De Minaur observes. 'That's what I am here!'
Both have reached new career high rankings, claiming they have learnt from each other
Boulter, who is 27, admires her partner's temperament and professionalism on the court
'He helps me get a bit of confidence!' Boulter rejoins, before they embark on more earnest observations about this partnership. 'I would say you are probably better at it than me with this. I would say that you help me more than I help you,' she tells him.
He disagrees - and though his tennis has taken him to eight career titles and a top 10 ranking in February, Boulter's approach to tennis, and life more generally, seems to have introduced him to a different way of pursuing things. For him, defeat can be a calamity, something he pores and agonises over for a week or more. 'I get more stressed out, he says. 'I would probably take at least a week to digest a tough loss and suffer more.'
For Boulter, there is a broader perspective borne of personal loss - her Wimbledon second round win over former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova two years ago came two days after the death of her grandmother - and struggle with injuries, including a back stress fracture which took her out the WTA for nearly nine months from 2019.
'I would say I'm a little bit more relaxed than him,' she says. 'I think I've been through a few different moments in my career which have led me to probably not care as much about tennis and care more about my family. I know there are a lot of bigger things happening in the world and I think that's where I try to go a little bit with Alex - because he can live and die by every single match. I've had time away from the game that just changed my mind a little bit.
Minaour has thanked Boulter for giving him perspective on wins and loses on the court
De Minaur and Boulter have been together for four years now, though it only takes half an hour or so in their company to see why the relationship works
There was a time, as their relationship was starting, when one would head down for breakfast at tournaments 10 minutes before the other and they would sit at different tables
'For me, I have to remind myself that it's just a tennis match. There are so many other things that could be worse if you have a bad day. Just appreciate that we're both out there,
