Aryna Sabalenka’s Six Toughest Chapters in Life: From Almost Giving Up Tennis to Overcoming Personal Losses and More
Sabalenka said tennis helps her cope with two losses after her ex-boyfriend’s apparent suicide and her father’s unexpected death.
- In her May 2026 Vogue cover story, tennis star Aryna Sabalenka candidly discussed grieving the sudden death of her father, Sergey Sabalenka, in 2019, and her former boyfriend, Konstantin Koltsov, who died in 2024.
- Sabalenka learned of Koltsov's death on March 18, 2024, when Miami-Dade Police Department officers approached her at the practice courts. The 42-year-old former NHLer's death involved no suspected foul play.
- The Grand Slam champion returned to play in the Miami Open less than a week after the incident, facing online criticism following a third-round loss. She later reflected, "I definitely think that I should have just stopped."
- Now engaged to Georgios Frangulis, the 28-year-old athlete describes ongoing struggles with grief, often finding herself crying while imagining how her father would react to her professional success.
- Sabalenka maintains that "there is no right and wrong" regarding grief, continuing to lean on tennis as her primary coping mechanism while pursuing her goal of establishing her family name in sports history.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Aryna Sabalenka received the shocking news during a training session. Now she talks about her grief after the death of her ex-boyfriend. “I got into an argument with the police,” she says.
Aryna Sabalenka’s Six Toughest Chapters in Life: From Almost Giving Up Tennis to Overcoming Personal Losses and More
For years, Aryna Sabalenka battled through chaos at the summit of women’s tennis. But now she stands on the verge of true dominance, drawing comparisons to her idols Serena Williams and Steffi Graf. As the French Open looms, the world No. 1 is no longer defined solely by her ruthless power, but by the resilience that shaped her beyond the court. In a raw and emotional interview with Vogue, Sabalenka revisited the darkest moments of her life, fr…
Aryna Sabalenka won't let her guard down in Vogue
World tennis number one reviewed in an interview the personal blows, competitive pressure and impact of the public exhibition that marked their journey from Minsk to the international elite
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