ALEX DE MINAUR will be an “honorary Brit” when he takes on Novak Djokovic on Centre Court tomorrow.
The Aussie, 25, booked a blockbuster maiden Wimbledon quarter-final by beating exciting Frenchman Arthur Fils in four sets.
Watching on from De Minaur’s player box was his girlfriend, British No1 Katie Boulter.
The happy couple have been dating for three years, and even played mixed doubles together in SW19 last year.
This time around, however, De Minaur has his eyes set on the singles prize.
Boulter, 27, fell to compatriot Harriet Dart in round two – with her conqueror then losing to Wang Xinyu in her next match.
Emma Raducanu then became the last Brit standing, but her defeat to Lulu Sun on Sunday left Wimbledon without a home hopeful remaining in the singles – until now.
After his win over Fils, De Minaur was asked if, given his relationship with Boulter, Brits can claim him as one of their own.
The Sydney-born star, who has a Uruguayan father and Spanish mother – and spent much of his childhood in Spain – said: “Oh, 100 per cent. I’ll take all the support I can get.
“I can be the honorary Brit here at Wimbledon. I’ll take all the support I can get.”
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On his relationship with the crowd at the All England Club, De Minaur continued: “I do feel very loved out there, I must say. I always love coming here to Wimbledon and playing here.
“I always feel like I play some of my best tennis. Over the years I feel like the support I’ve had has grown significantly.
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“It’s a great feeling as a player to know you’ve got a lot of people in that stadium backing you in, having your back when essentially you’re so far away from home.”
On if he feels a little bit British, De Minaur smiled as he added: “Yeah, definitely over the years I’ve learnt a lot more about the British culture thanks to Katie. I’m getting there.”
De Minaur is likely to have the majority of the crowd support against Djokovic, after the Serbian took aim at fans after his win over Holger Rune last night.
For much of the 37-year-old’s dominant win, fans chanted “Ruuuune” – with Djokovic thinking he was being booed.
During his on-court interview, the seven-time Wimbledon champion ranted: “To all the fans that have respect and stayed tonight, thank you from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it.
“To all those people that have chosen to disrespect play and one player, in this case me, have a GOOOD-night. A GOOOD-night. A very goodnight.
“They were disrespecting me. I don’t accept it, no, no, no. I know they were cheering for Rune but that is also an excuse to boo.
“Listen, I have been on the tour for more than 20 years. So trust me, I know all the tricks, I know how it works.”
British fans have become accustomed to sweating on Andy Murray‘s fitness in recent years.
And they may face similar concerns with their new man De Minaur ahead of tomorrow’s match – after the ninth seed appeared to pull up injured during the closing stages of his win over Fils.
Attempting to play down concerns, he said: “I just slid out to a forehand on my first match point.
“Felt like I jarred it a little bit. Kind of was a little bit ginger. Again, it’s probably a little bit of a scare more than anything.
“Situation was tight. In a way helped me relax and finish off the match.”
Djokovic thumped De Minaur at his home Grand Slam Down Under last year – with the underdog winning just five games in three sets.
The pair have since split their two following encounters, with Djokovic saying yesterday of his upcoming opponent: “He has improved so much I think in the last year and a half.
“I played him in the fourth round of Australian Open last year, 2023. I played a terrific match really. But from that match until today, watching his progress, seeing him get into top 10, is not a surprise.
“He’s always had that speed. He’s always had that incredible defence and really crafty hands on all the surfaces, particularly the quicker ones.”
Should De Minaur pull off the upset, he will reach his first Grand Slam semi-final in the process.
And perhaps, for a few days at least, Henman Hill can be called De Minaur Mound in his honour.
PRIZE MONEY for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships is a new record – and puts the grass-court Slam at the top of the tree.
The All England Club will dish out £50million across all the events – an increase of £5.3m and 11.9 per cent on last year, where singles champions Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova picked up £2.35m each.
However, the king and queen of grass this July will collect an extra £350,000 – taking the winner’s earnings to £2.7m.
Here is the breakdown for the 2024 Wimbledon singles prize money:
