Aryna Sabalenka shares her feelings about the sad loss of her father and ex-partner in a heartfelt interview.
WTA World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka recently shared some very personal and emotional moments from her life in an interview, just days before she heads to the French Open.
Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, is getting ready for the French Open starting May 24, after being knocked out in the third round of the Italian Open by Sorana Cîrstea. While she’s a fierce competitor on the court, off the court she’s faced some tough and heartbreaking times.
Back in 2019, when she was only 21, Sabalenka’s dad, Sergey, sadly passed away from meningitis while she was training in Minsk, Belarus. Her mom called an ambulance, and the paramedics managed to lower his fever at first, but the next day it came back. Sabalenka told Vogue about how she wanted to take him to the hospital herself when the ambulance didn’t show up. Eventually, he was taken to the hospital too late. She also talked about how hard it was for her mom and how much her sister suffered too, saying, “We were both daddy’s little girls.”
Even after her dad passed, Sabalenka went on to win four Grand Slam titles – two US Opens and two Australian Opens.
Now, six years later, she says she still gets emotional when she sees videos on social media about dads. She shared, “My fiancé sometimes finds me crying in bed at night because I’m watching videos about fathers or old times. The hardest for me are videos showing families reacting to their kid winning something. I just imagine how my dad would have reacted to me, and it’s really emotional. I see so many dads on tour, and when I see a loving dad cheering for his child, I remind myself to appreciate it, because you never know what might happen. You’re really lucky.”
Five years after her father’s death, Sabalenka faced another heartbreaking loss when her ex-boyfriend, ice hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, died by apparent suicide in Miami. She was practicing when she got the news and said she had a hard time accepting it.
Despite the pain, she chose to compete in the Miami Open just a few days later. After losing in the third round, she faced some criticism online for playing so soon. Sabalenka said, “I don’t think there’s any right or wrong way to grieve. Everyone deals with it differently. For me, going back to work is what helps. I’m 28 now, but sometimes it feels like I’ve already been through everything life can throw at you.”