A seemingly innocent statement by Katie Boulter has led some tennis fans to believe she has left Australia just before her fiance Alex de Minaur is due to face Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open quarter finals.
The British star took to Instagram on Thursday night to post a shot of her practising at the Australian Open and a snap of her with de Minaur along with the caption ‘Thank you Aussie for making me feel like I’m at home’ accompanied by a crossed fingers emoji for good luck – and an airplane emoji as well.
While many of her followers simply praised Boulter for the sentiment and called her an honorary Aussie, some took the message and the emoji as a farewell message and assumed she’d left the country.
‘Not staying to support your man…?’ one wrote.
‘You’re not staying to watch the rest of Alex’s match’s?’ another asked.
‘Are you leaving Oz now?’ added a third.
A simple emoji Katie Boulter attached to an Instagram post has set off speculation that she has left Australia despite her fiance Alex de Minaur (pictured together) still playing in Melbourne
Pictured: Boulter’s message, which was accompanied by an airplane emoji
‘Don’t leave yet. Demon going to the final,’ another said, with another commenter adding, ‘Wait, @katieboulter you’re leaving just before @alexdeminaur plays in the Semi’s?’
Boulter has been courtside for all of de Minaur’s matches at the Open so far, and he did the same for her as she beat Rebecca Marino in the first rounds before falling to Veronkia Kudermetova in three sets in her following match.
She was sitting with De Minaur’s mother and father on Tuesday night as he powered past America’s Alex Michelsen in four sets to set up the blockbuster clash with Sinner, and was seen hugging her partner’s mum in the stands.
The tennis power couple announced their engagement last month and Katie recently spoke about how much she loves being Down Under after visiting several times during their five-year romance.
‘I feel like I’ve already felt the love so much more here, even more than last year,’ the 28-year-old said shortly before the start of the Australian Open.
‘Being in Sydney (for the United Cup), which is his home town, where he was born, it was my first proper time playing tennis there. Just walking out onto the court and hearing the crowd for me really did help.
‘I felt very much at home and comfortable. Normally I’m the kind of person that dislikes going to new places. I felt very comfortable from the word go when I was there and that was completely because of them and how they’ve been treating me.
‘It makes a world of difference.’
Asked if she has embraced Aussie culture to the extent of having a favourite Down Under delicacy, she replied: ‘It’s definitely not Vegemite.
Boulter has been courtside for all of De Minaur’s matches at the Australian Open and he’s due to face Jannik Sinner in the biggest match of his life on Wednesday night
‘I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not sure that’s my thing. You can say TimTams, love a TimTam.
‘I’m always picking up accents. I don’t know if I have a bit of an Aussie twang here or there.
‘I just love the culture. I really enjoy coming here every single year. Obviously being around someone like Alex, such a hard worker. He loves his country, lives and dies by his Davis Cup number. I think that’s definitely rubbed off on me.
‘I love coming to Australia. It’s just a great place.’
The pair appear to share great senses of humour, judging by some of the light-hearted remarks they’ve made about each other during the grand slam.
After his victory over Michelsen, De Minaur joked about their upcoming nuptials weighing on his mind.
‘When I’m on the court, and you see me so stressed out, I’m just thinking of the wedding budget,’ he said.
‘That’s why I’m like, ‘I need to win more money, I need to win more matches.
‘That’s all that goes through my head.’
And shortly after the tournament started, Boulter poked fun at her man after he posted a photo of his muscled-up physique as he practised at Melbourne Park.
The world No.25 was having none of it, writing, ‘Stop trying to thirst trap you have a fiancé,’ referring to the slang for a post on social media that’s intended to make people attracted to them.
