Katie Boulter had a cheeky response for her boyfriend Alex de Minaur after he went “off the grid” during the Madrid Open due to a nationwide power outage in Spain.
De Minaur, one of many players affected by the blackout on Monday, revealed he embraced the lack of mobile signal by taking several walks before finally reconnecting with the world via social media. “Don’t mind this off the grid thing,” he posted on X. “On the 3rd walk of the day and finally got some service to check on the rest of the world,” followed by laughing emojis.
However, Boulter wasn’t letting him off the hook so easily. The British No. 1 joked that de Minaur was using the blackout as an excuse for not replying to her messages. “Imagine blaming a country blackout for not texting me back all day,” she replied, adding a parade of red flag emojis and calling it “elite 🚩 behaviour.”
Despite the humorous tone, the exchange quickly went viral among tennis fans, highlighting the couple’s playful dynamic even amidst tournament chaos.
On the court, de Minaur is set to face Denis Shapovalov in the fourth round of the ATP Masters 1000 event after a strong showing against Lorenzo Sonego in the previous round. Reflecting on his performance, the world No. 7 said:
“I was very happy with how I settled mentally and was able to bounce back after losing my serve early. Today was a great serving day for me — it really made my life a lot easier.”
Meanwhile, Boulter exited the tournament last Friday after a straight-sets loss to Jasmine Paolini.
The power outage, caused by what Spanish officials described as a “strong oscillation” in the European grid, disrupted much of Monday’s play — and even led some players to rely on candlelight during meals or get stuck in elevators.
Despite the hiccups, the tournament is now back on track — and so, it seems, is the light-hearted banter between two of tennis’s favorite off-court pairs.
