Alex de Minaur woos Australian Open crowd with cute message to Katie Boulter after win

Alex de Minaur gave a sweet nod to Katie Boulter after winning at the Australian Open

Alex de Minaur gave a cute nod to his fiance, Katie Boulter, after reaching his first Australian Open quarter-final. The world No. 8 downed rising star Alex Michelsen 6-0 7-6(5) 6-3 on Monday to break new ground at his home Grand Slam tournament. It comes weeks after De Minaur and Boulter announced their engagement. And the Aussie was asked whether his proposal had anything to do with his great run Down Under.

De Minaur had reached the last eight at all of the other Grand Slam tournaments - the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open - but he never got the job done on home soil.

After suffering a heartbreaking five-set loss in the fourth round last year, De Minaur finally broke his duck and made it to the quarters in Melbourne Park. Aged just 25, it's been a long time coming for the Aussie, who made his tournament debut in 2017 as a wildcard. And Jim Courier had an unusual theory for his success. "You’ve been coming here for a while, you’re a young man but this is your ninth time playing here at the Australian Open," the player-turned-pundit said during De Minaur's on-court interview.

Alex de Minaur broke new ground at his home tournament

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"First time in the quarter-finals and I’m just wondering, you just got engaged, is that a coincidence that it’s all happening now?" The No. 8 seed had his own theory. "I don’t believe in coincidences! I think when you’re happy off the court you play some good tennis on the court," he smiled, still giving Boulter some of the credit for his winning run. De Minaur has already had the home crowd firmly on his side this fortnight. But his sweet answer won them over even more as the fans on Rod Laver Arena were wooed by his comments. Courier also wanted to give a nod to British No. 1 Boulter, adding: "We’ll give Katie some of the credit, she deserves that for sure. She’s a heck of a player herself."

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