Alex De Minaur becoming Wimbledon’s ‘honorary Brit’ thanks to girlfriend Katie Boulter
Alex De Minaur is through to his maiden Wimbledon quarter-final.
Aussie Alex De Minaur is ready to be “the honorary Brit” at Wimbledon after getting cheered into the last eight by his girlfriend Katie Boulter.
Nineteen British players started in the singles last Monday. But British No.1 Boulter went out to Harriet Dart in the second round while Emma Raducanu was the last one knocked out on Sunday evening.
World No.9 De Minaur beat Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2 6-4 4-6 6-3 under the roof on Centre Court to reach the quarter-finals here for the first time.
And asked if he is ready to be the home fan favourite, he said: “Oh, 100%. I’ll take all the support I can get. I can be the honorary Brit here at Wimbledon. I’ll take all the support I can get.
“I do feel very loved out there, I must say. I always love coming here to Wimbledon and playing here. I always feel like I play some of my best tennis. Over the years I feel like the support I’ve had has grown significantly.
“It’s a great feeling as a player to know you’ve got a lot of people in that stadium backing you in, having your back when essentially you’re so far away from home.
“I do feel a bit British, definitely over the years I’ve learnt a lot more about the British culture thanks to Katie. I’m getting there!”
De Minaur will play the winner of the final fourth round match between Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune. But the Aussie suffered an injury in the final game of his match before limping to the net.
Asked during his on-court interview if he was OK, De Minaur insisted: “I’ll be all right. I’ll find a way.”
And later in his press conference, he said he felt pain in his “hip area”.
He explained: “I just slid out to a forehand on my first match point. Felt like I jarred it a little bit. Kind of was a little bit ginger. Again, it’s probably a little bit of a scare more than anything. Situation was tight. In a way helped me relax and finish off the match. I’m feeling pretty decent. Again, body went through a pretty physical match out there. Body feels a little bit ginger everywhere. I’m not going to lie. I’ve done my recovery. I’m sure I’ll be feeling great tomorrow.”
