Katie Boulter is continuing to rebuild after dropping outside of the world’s top 100. At the beginning of last month, the Brit was ranked down at No. 120. But she’s rediscovering her best tennis. She lifted the trophy in Ostrava in February, and then followed it up with a quarter-final run in Merida. Now, Boulter is hoping to kick on in Miami.

Back up to No. 67 in the world, Boulter came through a tough opening match on a chilly evening in Florida to beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-6(9) 6-4, while her fiance, ATP No. 6 Alex de Minaur, watched from the stands.

Boulter and De Minaur are enjoying the benefits of competing in a combined ATP-WTA tournament, which means they can be in the same place at the same time. Most of the time, their schedules don’t align, with the men’s and women’s tours stopping in different locations from week-to-week.

Having De Minaur in the stands certainly helped the British No. 3, who credited her fiance for coming out to support her. But she made it clear that tennis came first for both of them.

“The poor boy. It was so cold out there. Sometimes it doesn’t align that he’s able to watch and be there, and one thing we’re both very clear on is the priorities and having tennis as number one, no matter what,” Boulter told The Telegraph.

“Today it worked out with the rain and I was very grateful for that, because I felt like in the sticky times, he helped me get over the line.”

Boulter will face 17th seed Clara Tauson in her next match as she looks to progress through the draw. Meanwhile, De Minaur benefitted from a few extra days off as the No. 5 seed in the men’s draw. He will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Arthur Fery in the second round, having received a bye.

While Boulter is happy to be in the same place as De Minaur for once, that still comes with its own challenges. She added: “It’s really nice. I do still find it a bit tricky, well not tricky, because it’s a privilege to be at the same place at the same time. It’s just navigating how that looks sometimes is not easy.

“There are times when I may have days off and he’s training the full day, so we don’t get to spend that much time together, but I wake up with him and go to bed with him, so it’s fine. It’s a nice feeling to have that support no matter what and the security that he brings me and the love that he brings me is unmatched.”

The tennis power couple are due to get married this year. De Minaur popped the question at the end of 2024. Boulter also started a new partnership at the beginning of the year, teaming up with coach Michael Joyce after her split from Biljana Veselinovic. And they’re already seeing results following her run to the title in Ostrava.

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