Katie Boulter reached the semi-finals of the Queen’s Club Championships a week ago.
The Briton secured the biggest win of her career in the quarter-finals, when Boulter knocked out Elena Rybakina, the world number two.
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This week, it’s her fiancé’s turn to challenge at Queen’s, as Alex de Minaur searches for his second title of the season.
De Minaur has now shared how Boulter’s run to the semis affected him.
Alex de Minaur knows he will ‘never hear the end of it’ if he can’t match Katie Boulter’s Queen’s performance
During his latest press conference, De Minaur was asked what it’s like when he and Boulter make deep runs at the same time.
“Oh, it’s amazing,” he said.
“I think it brings out the best in each other.
“We kind of have a little bit of that competitive nature in us where we both want to do better than each other, and it just kind of, yeah, brings out a healthy competition.
“Now that I’m playing here at Queen’s, I’ve got to do my best to kind of try and at least match her performance, because if not, I’ll never hear the end of it.
“So that’s my drive and motivation. Let’s say that.”
Katie Boulter at Queen’s (2026)
- 1R [WIN] vs (8) Leylah Fernandez, 3-6, 7-6, 7-4
- 2R [WIN] vs Jaqueline Cristian, 6-1, 6-3
- QF [WIN] vs (1) Elena Rybakina, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
- SF [LOSS] vs Donna Vekic, 1-6, 3-6
De Minaur has made a strong start to his Queen’s Club Championships campaign as he looks to match Boulter.
The Aussie won his opener against Gabriel Diallo in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3.
He then beat another Canadian, Denis Shapovalov, in the second round, 6-4, 6-1.
If he wins his next match against Brandon Nakashima, he will advance to the semis, just as his fiancée, Boulter, did a week ago.
De Minaur is the top seed at Queen’s, and unlike Boulter, entered the competition as one of the favourites to lift the title.
Alex de Minaur’s Queen’s Club Championships draw
| Round | Highest-ranked potential opponent | Potential seeded opponents | Potential unseeded opponents |
| 1R | Gabriel Diallo (84) | – | – |
| 2R | Denis Shapovalov (41) | – | – |
| QF | Brandon Nakashima (32) | – | – |
| SF | Francisco Cerundolo (27) | [7] Francisco Cerundolo | Arthur Fery |
| F | Jiri Lehecka (12) | [1] Jiri Lehecka, [4] Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, [8] Tommy Paul | Botic van de Zandschulp, Corentin Moutet, Hamad Medjedovic, Ugo Humbert, Rinky Hijikata |
If he gets past Nakashima, De Minaur will play Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo or Great Britain’s Arthur Fery in the last four.
The 27-year-old is in with a great chance of making his second consecutive final, having finished as the runner-up in the Netherlands last week.
De Minaur will be keen to remind everyone of his grass-court credentials by picking up his first title on the surface since 2024 in Queen’s.
Alex de Minaur is finding form at the right time ahead of Wimbledon
After a strong start to the year, where De Minaur reached the Australian Open quarter-finals and won the Rotterdam Open, he began to struggle.
He lost his opening matches in Acapulco, Miami, Madrid, and Rome, and only reached one clay-court semi-final, at the Hamburg Open.
Those results saw De Minaur lose ground in the ‘Live ATP Race to Turin’, with others excelling on the clay.
Still, he sits inside the top eight, thanks to his run to the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and to the quarter-finals of Queen’s.
Live ATP Race to Turin
| Rank | Name | Country | Points |
| 1 | Jannik Sinner | Italy | 5,950 |
| 2 | Alexander Zverev | Germany | 5,090 |
| 3 | Carlos Alcaraz | Spain | 3,650 |
| 4 | Flavio Cobolli | Italy | 2,620 |
| 5 | Daniil Medvedev | Russia | 2,420 |
| 6 | Ben Shelton | USA | 1,970 |
| 7 | Arthur Fils | France | 1,890 |
| 8 | Alex de Minaur | Australia | 1,870 |
| 9 | Jakub Mensik | Czechia | 1,855 |
| 10 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | Canada | 1,790 |
With Wimbledon right around the corner, De Minaur looks like a contender again, and that’s great news for the Aussie and his many fans.
De Minaur has never been past the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament, but perhaps this year will be different.
He has work to do before Wimbledon, though, as he prepares to take on Nakashima in the Queen’s quarter-finals on Friday, June 19.
