Katie Boulter returned to Wimbledon on Monday afternoon to watch her fiance Alex De Minaur suffer defeat by 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 cheered from the sidlines as her beau, De Minaur, was also dumped out of the tournament by the seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic, 6-1 4-6 4-6 4-6.
The 26-year-old Aussie, who had dropped out of the ATP Tour’s top-10 rankings prior to the Grand Slam, got off to a flying start in the match, becoming the first-ever player to win the opening set of a match at Wimbledon against Djokovic by six games to one, after breaking the Serbian in the first game.
De Minaur then showed his resilience, holding on in the second game to save a break point, before his 38-year-old opponent surprisingly double faulted in the fifth game, conceding a 4-1 lead and a second break.
Boulter was then seen raising her fist in the air as her fiance took the first set, forcing Djokovic to strike the ball into the net to concede a set point.
Katie Boulter (right) arrived on Centre Court on Monday to cheer on her fiance Alex De Minaur
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
It was an uncharacteristic start for the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who struck 17 unforced errors in the opening set. But he bounced back.
Following several gruelling rallies, Djokovic let out a huge roar after forcing De Minaur to strike his return over his baseline, to seal the second and third sets, 6-4 6-4.
It was a hugely impressive display from Djokovic, who did not relent against the Aussie, even after again losing service in the second game of the fourth set.
But just as De Minaur appeared to have turned the tide on his opponent, Djokovic bounced back, breaking at 4-3, and again to take a 4-5 lead in the final set.
From there, he made no mistake in serving out to love, to seal the match and a spot in the quarter-finals against No 22 seed Flavio Cobolli.
Djokovic revealed he had been struggling with nerves before the game, which he claimed was the reason why he underwhelmed during the opening set.
‘I was definitely more nervous coming into this match and that reflected on my game in the first set,’ the Serbian said.
Djokovic (pictured) was erroneous in the opening set, conceding 16 unforced mistakes
Despite that, he fought back to produce an epic comeback after going down 6-1 in the opening set
‘Yeah, I mean it was a very difficult encounter, a lot of challenging moments for me.’
He even paid a nod to Roger Federer, who was watching on from the Royal Box.
‘Sometimes I wish I had a serve and volley and nice touch from the gentleman that’s standing there. That would help,’ he said pointing at the former Wimbledon champion.
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.’
Boulter’s highest placing at Wimbledon came in 2022 and in 2023, where she was knocked out of both events in the third round. She had been in good form coming into this year’s Grand Slam, 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.
Boulter (pictured) fist-bumped the air as De Minaur took the first set 6-1 after forcing his Serbian opponent to make several errors
De Minaur spoke last week on 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
‘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.’
Boulter’s defeat by Sierra came just 24 hours before De Minaur had been due to face Arthur 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, and I think I can get better at, but that’s experience.’
