"I may have forced him into this" - Katie Boulter teases boyfriend Alex de Minaur about his fun posing during Italian Open

Katie Boulter recently turned mischievous as she teased her boyfriend Alex de Minaur over a photo that he shared on social media. In the photo, the Australian can be seen striking an all-smiles pose at the Villa Borghese gardens in Rome.

Both Boulter and de Minaur were in the Italian capital recently to compete at the Italian Open. The Brit, who was the 26th seed in the women's draw, received a first-round bye and faced qualifier Rebecca Sramkova in the second round. To the surprise of many, Sramkova ousted Boulter from the WTA 1000 event with a 6-4, 7-6(8) win.

Meanwhile, de Minaur, the ninth seed in the men's draw, also started his campaign in the second round. The Australian battled past Roberto Carballes Baena and Felix Auger-Aliassime but ran into an in-form Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round, who beat de Minaur 6-1, 6-2.

After his exit from the ATP Masters 1000 tournament, de Minaur, presumably with Boulter, visited Rome's famous Villa Borghese gardens and struck a pose for the camera. The Australian later posted the photo on social media with the caption.

"We move on."

Boulter proceeded to comment twice on the post. Her first comment read:

"Hello handsome" (translated from Spanish).

Damian Rodriguez Regalado, founder of the clothing brand ENDQUOTE commented on the same post, saying:

"From 'no I don’t want a picture…' to… 'straight onto my feed.'"

Boulter replied to Regalado's comment, writing:

"I may have forced him into this," followed by a laughing emoji.

Katie Boulter's comments on Alex de Minaur's Instagram post featuring the Australian striking a pose at the Villa Borghese in Rome

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Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter recently recalled their first few days of dating

Katie Boulter (L) and Alex de Minaur (R) strike a pose on the red carpet while attending the Laureus World Sports Awards Madrid 2024

In April this year, Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter, who were in Madrid for the Madrid Open, cast their collective mind back on the initial phase of their relationship. They spoke about it during the Madrid Open-hosted Retiro Park Reflections in the Spanish capital's famed tourist attraction El Retiro.

At one point during their discussion, they recalled how they would sit at different tables to keep their relationship a secret.

"Remember that time when we were having breakfast on separate tables?" Boulter asked.

"Okay, that was early stages. We would rock down to breakfast at different times to avoid speculation," de Minaur replied.

De Minaur's next on-court outing is expected to be at the year's second Grand Slam, the French Open. Boulter is currently in action at the 2024 Trophee Clarins in Paris, a WTA 125 event. She has reached the tournament's quarterfinals, where she is slated to face Varvara Gracheva on Friday.