Aryna Sabalenka has shared her thoughts on why she wanted to give up tennis after the passing of her ex-boyfriend earlier this year. At the age of 34, professional ice hockey player Konstantin Koltsov was declared dead after falling from a Miami hotel balcony.
Koltsov appeared to have committed suicide, according to the police, who also stated that there was no foul play suspected in the incident. Although Sabalenka afterwards confirmed that they had broken up before Koltsov passed away, it was widely reported at the time that they were still dating.
The two-time Grand Slam champion has since acknowledged that her mental health suffered greatly after the death of her ex-boyfriend and that she ought to have taken a break from tennis.
She expressed her thoughts about it and said: “Once, I lost my father and tennis helped me to go through that tough loss. So at that moment [of Koltsov’s death] I thought I had to just keep going, keep playing, keep doing my thing to separate my personal life from my career life. In the end, I would say I was struggling a lot health-wise because I didn’t stop. It was really emotional and really stressful and kind of damaged my mental health at that point.”
She remained out of the spotlight at the time, releasing a brief statement stating that Koltsov’s death had broken her heart. Following the tragedy, she made it clear that she wanted privacy and declined to participate in her regular media duties.
She added: “Probably, looking back right now, I would say that a better decision would have been to step back, reset and recharge, and start everything over again, but I did what I did. In the end, I paid for my decision, but I’m really glad that I have tennis in my life and it’s really helped me go through whatever and get stronger.”
Aryna Sabalenka in 2024
LLWWWWWWWL At the moment ranked no.2, Sabalenka played her last match on the 19th of August when she beat world no.6 Jessica Pegula 6-3 7-5 in the final in Cincinnati to win her 15th career title.
This year the Belarussian achieved a compiled 39-11 win-loss record. Aryna clinched 2 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open and Cincinnati. Aryna reached the final in Brisbane, Madrid and Rome.
Aryna Sabalenka will fight against the world no.323 Petra Kvitova in the final on Saturday at 6:00 pm on CENTRE COURT. Their current head to head is 3-2 for Kvitova.
Aryna conquered 2 titles in 2024 at the Australian Open and Cincinnati. Sabalenka was the finalist in Brisbane (Brisbane International), in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open) and in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia).
The Belarussian won 15 titles in her career: 11 on hard courts, 2 on clay courts and 2 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
Aryna Sabalenka |
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