How a Portofino honeymoon and 13 days without tennis helped de Minaur move on from Wimbledon heartbreak

Washington: If you’re feeling a touch sorry for yourself, Alex De Minaur can recommend a cure - get married.The 27-year-old from Sydney wedded fellow tennis star Katie Boulter just after Wimbledon, a tournament he exited in a disappointing round of 16 loss to Italy’s Flavio Cobolli. By his own admission, De Minaur was beating himself up.Alex de Minaur on his wedding day.Kate Julia“It breaks me inside. That’s the reality of it,” he said at the time. “Many, many hours get put into my craft, and countless years, to have moments like these. To not step up to the plate is truly gut-wrenching.”But the wedding - first an intimate ceremony in England, then a larger celebration in Tuscany, and a very brief honeymoon in Portofino - has helped cast those blues aside, and recharge the batteries.“We did the maths, it’s probably the longest I’ve ever had without touching a racquet,” he says on the sidelines of the Mubadala DC Open in Washington. “It was probably about 13 days.”Thirteen days is a veritable eternity in the hectic schedule of professional tennis, which De Minaur thinks should be shortened. On Sunday, he talked about needing a break around this time of year, after the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double act and before the lead-up to the US Open.Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter on their wedding day.Kate JuliaDe Minaur doesn’t regret baring his soul in the aftermath of his Wimbledon defeat, but he feels it was overblown. His raw post-match news conference, in which he seemed on the verge of tears, received a lot of attention.“I don’t think it was warranted, as much as - myself included - a lot of people wanted to make a big deal out of it,” he says now.“It became a really big thing, but realistically it took me a couple of days to get over it. It was just the same feelings and emotions that any athlete has after a tough loss. Now I’m feeling great.”De Minaur points out that he may have suffered disappointing losses on the big stages in Paris and London, but he is now at a career high ranking of world No. 5. “That’s not too shabby,” he says.Katie Boulter and Alex de Minaur beam after tying the knot.Mike Ruane / Story Picture AgencyHis challenge is to channel that success into mental resilience on court – as he says, to play more freely and “with a little bit less weight on my shoulders”. The burden of expectation is heavy these days. Does he feel pressure to win from the Australian tennis public?“It mainly comes from myself,” he says. “As you win more matches, as you get closer to the top, more and more people have opinions on you than they did 10 years ago … It just comes with the job.“In fact, it’s a good thing. I’ve earned the right for people to have opinions about myself and my tennis. Whether they’re right or wrong, or whether they just want to have clickbait articles or not, that’s something else. I’m very chilled in my own life.”De Minaur is adamant that the solution to grand slam success lies in steeling himself, not making major changes to his team. “I’m very happy with the team. I don’t think it’s their fault that I haven’t performed in certain matches.”He is the defending champion here in Washington, but he has a tough opening match - Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who holds a 12-1 head-to-head advantage over the Australian.Both of them showed up to an exclusive cocktail reception on Sunday night (Washington time) at Ned’s Club, a private members’ club near the White House that is ordinarily the preferred hangout of Trump administration types like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.Also in the Australian entourage: Lleyton Hewitt and his son Cruz Hewitt, who is making his tour-level debut in Washington after qualifying for the main draw on Sunday when his American opponent Zachary Svajda retired hurt in the third set.The Aussies made a brief appearance at the Ned’s upstairs terrace that overlooks the White House and the Washington Monument, before retiring to the private players’ lounge.Presiding over the swanky party was venture capitalist Mark Ein, sometimes known as the King of Washington for his vast portfolio of business, sporting and media interests, which include the Mubadala Open and the Commanders NFL team.It was a tough day at the office for Alex de Minaur as he exited Wimbledon.Getty ImagesBut it was hometown hero Frances Tiafoe, or “Big Foe”, who stole the show. Though he is based in Florida like much of the tennis world, Tiafoe grew up in Hyattsville, just outside Washington DC.He has been known to train occasionally at the Australian ambassador’s residence, it being home to Washington’s only grass tennis court.News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.From our partners