Homegrown tennis star Alex de Minaur is playing a light-hearted game with his fiancée Katie Boulter after revealing why he is ‘so stressed out’ at the Australian Open.

The world number eight displayed his sense of humour after beating US young gun Alex Michelsen in straight sets on Monday, admitting his pending wedding is playing on his mind.

‘When I’m on the court, and you see me so stressed out, I’m just thinking of the wedding budget,’ he told broadcaster Laura Robson after breaking his Melbourne Park fourth-round hoodoo.

‘That’s why I’m like, ‘I need to win more money, I need to win more matches.

‘That’s all that goes through my head. So now, you know what’s going on inside my head.’

Even if de Minaur loses to top seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, his bank balance is about to receive a significant boost.

Home grown tennis star Alex de Minaur is playing a dangerous game with his fiancée Katie Boulter after revealing why he is ‘so stressed out’ at the Australian Open 

The world number eight displayed his sense of humour after beating US young gun Alex Michelsen in straight sets on Monday, admitting his pending wedding to Katie Boulter is playing on his mind

The sport’s power couple confirmed their engagement in December, with their wedding date still to be confirmed

The local hope – who has earnt more than $25million in career prizemoney to date – will pocket another $665,000 if he bows out of the tournament.

And if he manages to stun the Italian, a guaranteed $1.1 million awaits as a semi-finalist. 

Tennis’ power couple confirmed their engagement in December, with the wedding date yet to be confirmed.

The pair have been dating since March 2020, and on Monday night de Minaur declared his scintillating form can be linked to being happy away from tennis.

‘I don’t believe in coincidences….when you’re happy off the court, you play some good tennis on the court,’ he said.

The Sydney-born star was also playfully told by Boulter earlier in the tournament to ‘stop thirst trapping’ given he is engaged.

It followed ‘Demon’ posting an image on Instagram where his arm muscles were on full display. 

Meanwhile, de Minaur knows a daunting assignment awaits against Sinner, who the Aussie hasn’t beaten in nine attempts or even taken a set off since 2020.

‘I’m looking forward to it, obviously,’ he said on Monday.

‘It’s going to be an incredibly tough match and I’m going to have to do something I haven’t done before. But why not start here?’

De Minaur is the first local into the last eight since Nick Kyrgios in 2015 and the first Australian to make four consecutive grand slam quarter-finals since Lleyton Hewitt surged all the way to the 2005 Australian Open final.