Katie Boulter is on a high, winning the Nottingham Open 2024 women’s singles title recently. The English WTA star is one of the biggest hopefuls on home soil when it comes to clinching the Wimbledon title in a few weeks time. Boulter has also managed to remain in the headlines for her relationship with Australian No.1 men’s player, Alex de Minaur. However, on this instance, she has raised eyebrows because of her one particular tennis assessment.
In a fun quiz with the LTA which has been taken earlier by the likes of Carlos Alcaraz too, Katie Boulter was asked to construct her perfect tennis player on grass. She began with Jannik Sinner and slotted him in the forehand section. After that, Ben Shelton of the United States cropped up and she came up with a much more accurate answer, putting him as the best server.
Former women’s World No.1 Victoria Azarenka followed and Katie Boulter had no hesitation in acknowledging her senior having the best backhand. But the fourth choice was the most intriguing. World No.4 Daniil Medvedev’s name came up and she had to think much more. This is because she could only pick him between touch and mentality.
Katie Boulter eventually slotted Daniil Medvedev as a player who would have the best mentality on grass. Now this is a big shock since Medvedev does not exactly have a great grass court record despite having played on the ATP Tour for almost 8 years now. The Russian’s best performance at Wimbledon was last year when he made it to the semifinals, only to lose to the eventual champion, Carlos Alcaraz.
Daniil Medvedev has just the one title on grass, which he won in his breakout 2021 season in Mallorca. The 2021 US Open champion is himself not a big fan of the surface, as he is self-admittedly, a hard court specialist. But even if the perfect player had to be constructed for a hard court, Medvedev having the best mentality is a troublesome statement. In fact, Medvedev has lost multiple Grand Slam semifinals and finals despite having a 2 sets to 0 lead.
Perhaps, Katie Boulter could have skipped Daniil Medvedev if she felt genuinely that he is not good enough for having the best mentality or touch. But it is possible that Boulter did not want to hurt sentiments. Throughout the quiz, she enjoyed herself and played with a smile, ending it by agreeing that her compatriot, Emma Raducunu is able to play with good touch on the tennis court.
LTA could have deliberately not taken Alex de Minaur’s name in the first 6 choices as it would have been a biased answer from Katie Boulter’s perspective. But had de Minaur been added in that list, he would have been a safer choice when it comes to mentality, considering his age and being one of the brightest stars on the block.
Interestingly, Alex de Minaur was the man to dash Daniil Medvedev’s French Open 2024 hopes, as the Australian prevailed in their Round of 16 clash at Roland Garros a few weeks ago.
Katie Boulter and Alex De Minaur Have a Lot to Prove at Wimbledon 2024
While Alex de Minaur has had an outstanding 2024 season so far, he would love to make it even better by conquering his Achilles heel so far – Wimbledon. At the grass court Grand Slam, de Minaur has never made it past the Round of 16, which was back in 2022. The Australian once lost to Rafael Nadal, which was back in 2018, the year of his debut in the main men’s singles draw.
Similarly, Katie Boulter is yet to make it past the Round of 32 at Wimbledon. But the 2024 Boulter could prove to be a force to reckon with, because she was able to defend her Nottingham Open title successfully. So she has 2 titles on grass instead of 1 now. Adding to that, Boulter has been training extensively with Andy Murray’s ex-trainer, Matt Little. Little played a huge role in resurrecting Murray’s career by helping him recover from a broken hip in the late 2010s.
Could they become the first tennis couple in history to match each other thrice in a calendar year when it comes to winning titles? Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter have done it twice already, once in February and most recently, in June. The Wimbledon 2024 could be the third instance and this would be great motivation for the two lovebirds.
