Katie Boulter wins her first WTA 500 tournament for a £112,000 pay-day to seal a ‘pretty good week’ for tennis’ power couple – after boyfriend Alex De Minaur jetted at 6am from his own win to watch his girlfriend hit a career high
- Katie Boulter defeated Marta Kostyuk to claim her first WTA 500 tournament win
- The British No. 1 thanked friend Alex de Minaur for flying in to watch her play
- De Minaur flew 2000 miles from his own victory to arrive in time for the final
British number 1 Katie Boulter has sealed her first-ever WTA 500 tournament win with a stunning comeback victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk – and then took time to publicly thank boyfriend Alex de Minaur in the crowd.
It was a dream week for tennis’ power couple, with Boulter, 27, beating Ukraine’s Marta 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the San Diego Open to collect a £112,000 payday – just a The day after De Minaur, 25, triumphed at the Mexico Open.
As Boulter accepted her award, the Brit couldn’t help but playfully “embarrass” her partner, who had flown more than 2,000 miles at 6 a.m. to be seated courtside in time to see how she reached a peak in her career.
She said: “I just want to say a little special thank you to my friend. He ended last night at midnight and I really want to embarrass him.
“He got in the cab at 4:15 this morning and flew at 6 to be here today, so I really appreciate it.”
Katie Boulter defeated Marta Kostyuk to claim her first WTA 500 tournament win in San Diego
De Minaur (right) cheers on Boulter from the court, together with her coach Damian Rodriguez
Boulter and De Minaur are one of the sport’s power couples after coming together a few years ago and the Australian was determined to be at the Brit’s historic final on Sunday
After an even start between the two, the sixth-seeded Ukrainian began to gain the upper hand over Boulter, stringing together several games and quickly closing in on the opening set.
Boulter fought back to tie the set at 5-5, but Kostyuk regained the momentum to wrap up the first set 7-5.
Boulter then found her groove in the second, dominating on her first serve to clinch the set 6-2 and force a decisive third set.
Boulter ’embarrassed’ friend De Minaur by thanking him for coming to see her play
De Minaur won the Mexican Open title in Acapulco on Saturday by beating Casper Ruud
The Briton continued her lead in the third, claiming the first break point of the set on her way to a 3-1 lead.
Boulter broke again in the seventh game and stormed home from there to seal the win in two hours and 13 minutes.