Tennis couple Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter took jovial digs at each other after their mixed doubles defeat in the Eisenhower Cup. The pair competed together in the Tie Break Tens exhibition event but were beaten by Emma Navarro and Ben Shelton.
The match was locked at 6-6 before a mishit from De Minaur handed the American duo the advantage. The Aussie star also faltered when trying to save match point as he failed to return Shelton’s backhand. Boulter joked that was the end of their professional partnership, saying afterwards it was the “second and last time” they would play together.
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Despite their defeat, they seemed to enjoy the experience as they laughed and joked together afterwards. Indeed, in their post-match interview, British No.1 Boulter defended her man, arguing he did ‘step up’ despite taking a dig at his work rate.
“No he did (step up). He was great,” she said. “I thought he was going to run for some of the shots, though, but he left them to me. So that was awesome.”
The jibing continued on Instagram, with Boulter posting a picture of the pair in action with the caption: “Fun night at Tie Break Tens even though we lost. I guess I’ll keep him (crying emoji).”
De Minaur joined in the fun with his fiancee, implying the wedding was not on hold. He posted three crying emojis of his own and wrote: “There goes the wedding budget.”
Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina eventually won the tournament, which was a prelude to the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Boulter and De Minaur have received byes for the first round of the men’s and women’s singles.
Boulter will now play Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu in the last 64 on Friday. De Minaur will also be in action tomorrow but is yet to have his opponent confirmed.