Katie Boulter ’embarrasses’ boyfriend Alex de Minaur for what he did before she won San Diego Open title

PROUD Katie Boulter claimed the best triumph for a British woman since Emma Raducanu’s US Open success – and then embarrassed her jet-setting boyfriend.

The Leicester ace lifted a first WTA 500 title by fighting back from a set down to defeat Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 5-7 6-2 6-2 in the San Diego Open final.

X formerly Twitter / @TheTennisLetterKatie Boulter gave Alex de Minaur a shout-out in her victory speech[/caption]

X formerly Twitter / @TheTennisLetterDe Minaur had flown over from Acapulco that morning[/caption]

GettyBoulter lifted the biggest trophy of her career so far[/caption]

It represents the biggest win of her career and she has now risen to a heady 27th spot in the world rankings.

Her partner Alex de Minaur flew into the Californian city after catching an early-morning flight from Acapulco where he had lifted the Mexican Open the day before.

Speaking to those in her players’ box, Boulter, 27, said: “All of you who have been here, some of you have flown over here, some of you have driven here.

“Some of you have been here the whole time. There’s a lot back home. I want to thank every single one of you.

“I want to say a small special thank you to my boyfriend.

“He finished on Saturday night at midnight and I really want to embarrass him.

“He got on a 4.15 taxi this morning and six o’clock flight to be here, so I do appreciate it.”

Despite the 12 double faults and falling a set behind against the No.6 seed, Boulter kept her cool and managed to close out the contest, converting seven of 11 break-point moments.

Boulter, who overcame five successive top-40 opponents on the west coast of the USA, added: “This week has been very, very special for so many different reasons.

“This one is pretty amazing. I’ve worked very hard for it. I played some incredible tennis all week.

“It was a complete battle, with myself as well, because I was a little bit nervous.

“But I managed to get over the line, and that I’m very proud of.

“A lot of it was about me staying as tough as I possibly could mentally.

“I managed to keep my cool and actually kind of went within myself and calmed myself down a lot.

“I think that really helped me and then I started to relax and play through shots a little bit more.”

In the landscape of women’s tennis, this event sits on the third rung of the ranking points-scale – below the four Grand Slams and the various 1,000-level tournaments.

Commendably, Boulter has risen 99 places in the rankings since winning her only other tour title at last June’s Nottingham Open, a WTA 250 event.

Should she stay in the top 30 over the coming months, then she will guarantee herself a spot as a seed in the main draw for the French Open and maybe Wimbledon, too.

Raducanu, 21, famously lifted the US Open in New York in 2021 against all the odds but it had been a rather barren spell for her compatriots until last weekend.

Kostyuk, who is from Kyiv, spoke tearfully about her family back home in the war-hit Easter European country in her runners-up speech.

The Australian Open quarter-finalist said: “I don’t want to make it too sad. Sorry.

“I want to say thank you first of all to my family back home. It’s been a difficult last couple of nights for Ukraine.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow but there is nobody who has sacrificed more for my career than them. I want to dedicate this small trophy to them.

“I want them to see me as much as possible. This one goes to them.”

GettyBoulter smiles after winning the San Diego Open[/caption]

GettyDe Minaur was in Boulter’s player box for the match[/caption]

RexThe Aussie had won a title of his own in Acapulco the previous evening[/caption]

PAThe couple played mixed doubles together at Wimbledon last year[/caption]