Alex de Minaur has described securing his spot at the ATP Finals as the best news he has had in a long, long time. However, that remark might not sit too well with his fiancée, Katie Boulter, given that they got engaged less than 12 months ago.

De Minaur booked his place at the season-ending tournament in Turin after reaching the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Thursday. The Australian number one beat 10th seed Karen Khachanov in straight sets to progress to the last eight.

He will face Alexander Bublik, who knocked out Taylor Fritz in the round of 16. Speaking to the Tennis Channel, whose presenter, Prakash Amritraj, noted that "the wedding budget is looking good with the wins you're putting up on the board," De Minaur discussed making the ATP Finals.

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"I had no idea," he said. "I mean, it was the best news I've got in a long, long time. No, I had no idea. Of course, there's so much chatter the last three, four weeks of the year.

"That's what everyone's talking about. So there's a lot of stress, and I did my best not to pay attention as much as I could. But yeah, I had no idea that securing that win was enough. So yeah, it was a lot of relief, and I'm very, very happy with that."

Boulter and De Minaur met on the tennis circuit after dating for almost five years before announcing their engagement just before Christmas last year. "We've been keeping a small secret," she posted on Instagram alongside a photo of them arm-in-arm while showing off her ring."

De Minaur said of their wedding plans to the Daily Mail this summer: "There are decisions to be made. We've given ourselves an extra year to plan it and not be as stressed.

"There are times when we can focus on making decisions, and other times we have to focus on tennis. It's a balancing act, that's for sure.

The Australian added: "It will be next year. We have a date, we have a country. We're going to keep it a surprise, but one thing I'll say is it won't be in the UK or in Oz - it's a neutral venue!'

This year's ATP Finals boast the richest prize money in the tournament's history, with an unbeaten champion, as Jannik Sinner was 12 months ago, set to pocket £3.86million.

Simply taking part guarantees £252,000, with an additional £302,000 available for each victory during the round-robin phase.

Last year, De Minaur was part of the Ilie Nastase group, alongside Daniil Medvedev, Fritz, and Sinner. However, he went home winless, losing all three matches and taking just one set, with only 40 per cent of his games won.

Fritz and Sinner were the two finalists, indicating it was far from an easy group. This year's tournament will see them return, joined by Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Carlos Alcaraz, De Minaur and Novak Djokovic, plus either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Lorenzo Musetti.