How a hotel coffee at 6am changed Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter’s lives: Inside the power couple’s love story.

Tennis has long been a sport known for its power couples, from Roger Federer and Miroslava Vavrine, to Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert, and Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.

Now there’s a new power couple on the block (or should we say court?) and their surprisingly normal love story has Aussie fans smitten.

Alex de Minaur, 25, is on the rise as one of Australia’s best talents – last year, he became the first Aussie man in 20 years to reach the French Open quarterfinals – and he’s doing it all with fiancée Katie Boulter by his side.

The 27-year-old Brit is a tennis prodigy in her own right, often travelling on the same tournament circuit alongside de Minaur, and they even met through the sport.

Boulter knew of the Aussie through mutual friends and had heard he was a “good, humble” guy, so when she bumped into him by chance she decided to say hello.

“One day, when we were staying in the same hotel, we bumped into each other at six in the morning and ended up getting a coffee,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald this week.

From that moment, I knew I was in it for the long haul.”

de Minaur was taken by her “smiling, happy” attitude and the pair started dating right as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across Europe and the UK.

“I was in Spain under house arrest and she was in the UK, so we had months of talking on FaceTime,” he told SMH.

“I think I realised this was becoming something special when I found myself wanting to talk to her all the time.

“Her companionship was something I’d been looking for: it gave me a sense of peace.”

“Not sure how you’ve put up with me this long. Happy one year,” she wrote.

Around the same time, de Minaur also posted the same picture in honour of International Women’s Day.

The couple made things Instagram official in March 2021, when Boulter posted a sweet snap to commemorate the duo’s one-year anniversary.

At the 2022 Wimbeldon tournament, De Minaur had nothing but praise for his partner following her win against Karolina Pliskova.

“Before we talk about my match,” he said to the BBC during a press conference, “can we just talk about Katie Boulter today? I mean, she had a pretty good win herself.”

In a 2023 interview with Tatler magazine, Boulter expanded on how supportive her boyfriend has been of her career, “I couldn’t ask for any better, he’s the best support I’ve got.”

She continued: “We’re on the same wavelength when it comes to our priorities, tennis is where we want to be and the rest will follow.”

And last year, things became official official when the power couple announced they were engaged.

“We’ve been keeping a small secret,” the wrote alongside a photo showing off the sparkling engagement ring. 

Only months earlier in an interview during Wimbledon, de Minaur was asked about future proposal plans after his win against Novak Djokovic.

Jeez, putting me on the spot here,” he said the time.

“Yeah, it’s not in the cards just yet, not ruling it out. For the time being, I’m going to try to focus on playing tennis, and then we’ll think about the off-court activities.”