Alex de Minaur's lovely public move for Katie Boulter amid difficult situation for fiancee

Alex de Minaur has paid a public tribute to his family and team - including fiancee Katie Boulter - after overcoming what he described as one of the "darkest times" of his career to make the semis at the ATP Finals. De Minaur was down in the dumps after losing to Lorenzo Musetti earlier this week, which took him to 0-2 for this year's tournament and 0-5 in his career at the ATP Finals.

He faced off against World No.6 Taylor Fritz on Thursday night, needing to win in straight sets to give himself a chance to make the semis. It appeared an almost impossible task considering he'd lost to Fritz in their last two clashes, and the Aussie was on a 16-match losing streak against top-10 opponents.

But de Minaur pulled one out of the bag to win 7-6 (7-3) 6-3, and Carlos Alcaraz's later victory over Musetti meant Alcaraz and de Minaur advanced out of their group to make the semis. Speaking after his loss to Musetti, de Minaur admitted he was in a dark place and searching for answers.

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But after taking down Fritz to stay alive in the tournament, he heaped praise on those closest to him for helping him stay upbeat. The World No.7 said he was "incredibly lucky to have the support system that I have", giving a special mention to fiancee Boulter, who's been cheering him on at court-side.

"I've dealt with a fair bit of heartbreak recently. It was good to - finally - get a win," he sighed. "More than anything, regardless of the result today, I had made peace with myself. I was okay with the result not going my way. I just wanted to play my way. It felt good to play on my terms.

"I was gonna leave everything out there and I ended up with a really good match from the start 'til the end. It was good to get some positive reward for that hard work."

Katie Boulter working through difficult period

The public tribute to Boulter comes amid an extremely tough time for his fiancee. A former World No.23, the British star has tumbled down the rankings to No.100 and is in danger of failing to earn automatic qualification for the Australian Open in January.

She's has won just eight of her last 21 main-draw matches, and hasn't made it past the second round of a tournament since the Nottingham Open in June. Since Wimbledon she's only won three matches at WTA level.

Last month she left the court in tears after retiring hurt at the Hong Kong Open. The 29-year-old called for the trainer while trailing 20-year-old Filipino Alexandra Eala 6-4 2-1 in their first-round match, and broke down in tears after deciding she couldn't continue.

She later wrote on social media: "Being honest the past couple of weeks have been rough. I've loved my time in Asia, but playing through injuries is draining. Just keeping it real, it's been a lot."

Thankfully for Boulter and de Minaur they have each other to fall back on in times of need. Her support in Turin and his public tribute show they're in safe hands with each other.

During Thursday's match, commentator Laura Robson shared a conversation she had with Boulter about what tactics de Minaur wanted to employ. She said: "I was chatting to Katie Boulter before the game and she said, 'He might just go out there and tee off’, and that’s what he’s doing. He’s added so much power to his game."

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