Katie Boulter reveals six-word message from boyfriend Alex de Minaur after Wimbledon exit to rival Harriet Dart
KATIE BOULTER revealed the six-word message from her boyfriend Alex De Minaur following her Wimbledon exit.
Boulter, 27, was dumped out in the second round in a Battle of Britain with rival Harriet Dart.
The pair do not see eye to eye and the Leicester ace was gutted to be beaten by her fellow Billie Jean King Cup star on the biggest stage.
Boulter, who magnanimously hugged her conqueror at the net, made a staggering 75 unforced errors in the three-set marathon, which saw Dart burst into tears twice when trailing before coming back to win.
But Boulter’s tennis player partner De Minaur was on hand to give her some much-needed words of encouragement.
She was asked about the benefit of having a boyfriend who is also on the tour and understands the difficulties of painful defeats.
And Boulter revealed the simple but effective message from her other half.
Quoting the Aussie, she said: “Look, one match doesn’t define my career.”
“That’s the first thing he said to me when I got off the court.
“He knows what he’s talking about. It’s not his first rodeo.
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“He’s been through it all before. I’m lucky to have that support.”
De Minaur was in Wimbledon action on Thursday morning and delayed his press conference by more than an hour to be in Boulter’s player box on No1 Court.
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He said: “It’s what happens in tennis, right? You have your good days, you have your bad days, and everything in between.
“Losing sucks. That’s the reality of it. It doesn’t matter whether you lose in the first round, in the final, or anything in between, it’s never easy.
“But I think the most important thing for her is that this match doesn’t define her in any way, shape, or form.
“I’m so proud of what she’s done, what she’s accomplished this whole grass-court season. She’s just going to keep on kicking on.
Tennis stars’ new careers
PLENTY of tennis stars have stayed involved in the sport since retiring.
But others pursued very different careers. Here are some of the best…
- I reached French Open and Wimbledon finals as a teenager but I quit to become a nun
- I won Wimbledon mixed doubles with my sister but got fed up with English weather so now run luxury B&B
- I was tipped for stardom aged 12 but retrained to become high-flying lawyer
- I earned £9m and won French Open before setting up bistro with Brazilian model girlfriend
- I’m last Frenchman to win Roland Garros, now I’m singer with six albums hitting No1 in charts
- I’m former world No1 but quit aged 29 – instead I went on to play professional poker and golf
- I was destined for the top but swapped lobs for labs as award-winning Harvard physicist
“Ultimately, whether it’s one way or the other, it’s just being there for each other. So whatever it is she needs today, I’ll be there for her.”
The British No1 from Leicester has been dating the Aussie since 2020 and they even teamed up to play mixed doubles at Wimbledon last year.
Incredibly, Boults won her maiden WTA 500 title in San Diego in March this year – the day after De Minaur landed the crown in Acapulco before hot-footing it to be in the crowd to cheer on his girlfriend.
They made their red-carpet debut at the Laureus World Sport Awards in Madrid the following month – but De Minaur played a risky shot by joking he loved his classic 1973 Mini more than Katie…
Wimbledon 2024 prize money
PRIZE MONEY for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships is a new record – and puts the grass-court Slam at the top of the tree.
The All England Club will dish out £50million across all the events – an increase of £5.3m and 11.9 per cent on last year, where singles champions Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova picked up £2.35m each.
However, the king and queen of grass this July will collect an extra £350,000 – taking the winner’s earnings to £2.7m.
Here is the breakdown for the 2024 Wimbledon singles prize money:
- Winner: £2.7m
- Runner-up: £1.4m
- Semi-finalists: £715,000
- Quarter-finalists: £375,000
- Fourth round: £226,000
- Third round: £143,000
- Second round: £93,000
- First round: £60,000
- Overall total: £50m