Alex de Minaur all about "going up in the boyfriend rankings" in Katie Boulter's eyes

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—There’s only one ranking Alex de Minaur cares about—and it’s not the number next to his name on tournament drawsheets.

Off to a flying start in 2024, the Australian entered Indian Wells on the back of a successful title defense in Acapulco that maintained his place inside the Top 10.

But before making his way to the BNP Paribas Open, De Minaur notably skipped celebrating his latest triumph in favor of catching a 6 a.m. flight to San Diego the next morning to see girlfriend Katie Boulter contest the biggest final of her career.

“The only thing that counts in my life right now is going up in the boyfriend rankings. I don’t care about the ATP rankings,” joked the 25-year-old with Prakash Amritraj and Steve Weissman Friday.

“She’s been giving me some grief, because this year, due to time zones and different matches, I haven’t been there live in her box watching. So she was using that against me for a fair bit.”

The decision paid off, when Boulter rallied past Marta Kostyuk, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, to clinch her second WTA trophy. Watching her explosive brand of tennis courtside, De Minaur admits it's impossible not to be “little bit jealous” of the abilities his partner in crime has at her disposal.

“I see her just smacking winners left and right and I’m like,’ jeez I wish I had that sort of firepower in my game.’ I see her play the game and it just looks so easy. I’m out here running side to side, grinding for every point, having to work,” De Minaur said.

On Friday, the world No. 10 posted his 16^th win from 20 matches played this season when he dispatched Taro Daniel, 6-1, 6-2. In the early goings of the year, De Minaur stands at No. 3 in the race to Turin with results that include a victory over Novak Djokovic at the United Cup and runner-up finish in Rotterdam to go with the eighth ATP crown he picked up last weekend.