Alex de Minaur delights tennis world with act for Katie Boulter amid double triumph

Alex de Minaur has further endeared himself to tennis fans after foregoing celebrations following his win at the Mexican Open so he could catch a 6am flight to watch girlfriend Katie Boulter play her own final. De Minaur defended his title in Acapulco on Sunday, beating Casper Ruud 6-4 6-4 in the final to maintain his place in the top 10 of the ATP rankings.

But when asked in his post-match interview how he was planning to celebrate, the Aussie star said he was putting the champagne on hold because he had an early morning flight to catch. Rather than bask in his own glory, de Minaur got up before the sun and flew from Acapulco to California to watch his girlfriend Boulter beat Marta Kostyuk 5-7 6-2 6-2 in the San Diego Open final.

"There's a big party later on, are we going to see you there?" de Minaur was asked by the interviewers. He replied: "You know what I cannot because I've got a 6am flight to go to watch Katie play in the final. I'm looking forward to that."

The comments went down like a treat with tennis fans and commentators, who melted over de Minaur's 'best boyfriend' move. The World No.9 continued his red-hot start to 2024 on Sunday, in which he was beaten gig guns such as Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.

Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter in brilliant starts to 2024

He also beat the Norwegian star during his march to the final of the Rotterdam Open late last month, where he lost to Jannik Sinner. The Aussie has managed to maintain his career-high ranking of World No.9 in the process, while his British girlfriend is also breaking new ground during a similarly brilliant start to the year.

Following her impressive comeback win in San Diego, upsetting Australian Open quarter-finalist Kostyuk, Boulter will be ranked inside the top 30 for the first time when the rankings are updated tomorrow. After struggling to hold her serve in the first set, Boulter turned things around and was only broken once in the second and third set combined.

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While De Minaur also set up his latest victory with a brilliant serving display. He only dropped five points on serve in taking the opening set in 52 minutes, with the sole break coming in the third game. He won all but two points when landing his first serve in.

The 25-year-old Aussie joined David Ferrer (2010-12), Nicolas Almagro (2008-09) and one-time World No.1 Thomas Muster (1993-96) in winning back-to-back titles at the Mexican Open. "It's been an amazing week," de Minaur said. "It's probably a week I didn't really expect. I came into Mexico not feeling my best and just kept telling myself to keep giving myself chances.

"I think today I played my best match of the tournament by far. Acapulco has been a very good place for me and my tennis career - first time I've won an ATP 500, first time I've defended a title in my career. I feel at home here."

De Minaur continued a remarkable few weeks for Australian tennis, with Jordan Thompson winning the singles and doubles titles at the Los Cabos Open last week. Thompson also beat Ruud in the final there, claiming his first career ATP title in 11 years as a professional.

with AAP

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