Alex de Minaur captures British and Aussie hearts at Wimbledon

Young Australian tennis star Alex de Minaur is not only carrying the support of his home country as he looks to make the Wimbledon quarterfinals, but the cheers of a smitten English crowd too.

The 23-year-old has captured the hearts of the British public as he enjoys a breakthrough tournament, in no small part due to his relationship with English tennis’ new darling Katie Boulter.

The “Demon” has become a cult-like hero and adopted Brit during his time at SW19 for his style of play, humble nature and public displays of love and support for Boulter.

This was on full display after his win over Jack Draper last week, when he paused to acknowledge Boulter's own incredible upset victory against last year's finalist Karolina Pliskova earlier that day.

“Before we talk about my match, can we just talk about Katie Boulter today? “I mean, she had a pretty good win herself,” De Minaur asked the crowd while being interviewed following his win.

The World No. 27 subsequently earned plaudits on social media for his impressive win and heartfelt shoutout, with the Tennis Podcast saying the interview was “arguably his best winner of the night” and bumped up “his boyfriend/honorary Brit stock nicely”.

Boulter had also paid tribute to De Minaur following her win over Pliskova, saying she was “a very lucky girl” to have him.

“He is the epitome of a fighter and someone that goes out and gives their all every single day. That's what I aspire to be like. He helps me do that. I’m a very lucky girl,“ she said.

While Boutler’s campaign was snuffed out in under an hour by Harmony Tan in a dominant display, De Minaur advanced to the fourth round at SW19 for the first time in his career with a 6-3 6-4 7-5 win over Liam Broady.

The Australian hero looked like he would become the villain though, when he was reminded during his post-match interview that he had “broken some British hearts” by knocking out local favourites Draper and Broady in successive fashion.

De Minaur was briefly booed by the crowd, but those jeers quickly turned to cheers when he was asked whether he had the fans over.

“That sounds pretty good to me,” he said in response to the crowd’s support.

“I appreciate all the support. I really cherish every moment I can get on this court and if I can get your guys‘ support, it means the world. I appreciate it.

“It‘s been obviously tough playing two Brits, but I’ve done everything I could and I felt quite a warm welcome,” de Minaur said after backing up his electrifying second-round comeback win over Jack Draper with a No. 1-court clinic against Broady.

“I‘m just appreciative of that and hopefully I can keep it going and get an even bigger crowd support next couple of matches.”

De Minaur is the favourite heading into his fourth round match against Chile’s Cristian Garín.

If he wins, it could mean a blockbuster all-Australian quarterfinal matchup against Nick Kyrgios.