Months after World No. 2 tennis star Aryna Sabalenka’s ex-boyfriend died, the Belarusian tennis star opened up about the passing and how she didn’t give herself the needed time to process what had happened.
Sabalenka made the revelation in an interview with The Guardian that was published on Wednesday ahead of next week’s U.S. Open.
Former NHLer Konstantin Koltsov fell from the balcony of a five-star hotel in Miami and died in March.
At the time, it had been reported that the two were together, but Sabalenka clarified that they weren’t, though her heart was “broken.”
It was one of the only statements she made in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, aside from a message to her fans thanking them for their support.
Now, five months later, she acknowledged that she would have handled things differently if she could.
Similar to the way she handled the passing of her father in 2019, Sabalenka threw herself right back into tennis.
Sabalenka was spotted practicing the following day after Koltsov’s death ahead of the Miami Open.
“Once, I lost my father and tennis helped me to go through that tough loss,” she said. “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.
“But at the end I would say I was struggling a lot healthwise because I didn’t stop. It was really emotional and really stressful, and kind of damaged my mental health at that point.”
the Islanders on April 15, 2006 at Nassau Coliseum. Getty Images
Sabalenka added that she thinks the “better decision” would have been to take a step back and “recharge.”
“Start everything over again,” she added. “But I did what I did. At 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.”
The 26-year-old was forced to take time away from the game over the past few months due to a shoulder injury that kept her from playing at Wimbledon and dealt with illnesses that kept her from participating in the French Open and Italian Open.
“I realized it only after I was injured and had to step back that actually it was something much needed,” Sabalenka told the outlet.
“At the end I figured out that it was much needed. Now I feel physically and mentally much better and much stronger,” she added.
Sabalenka is coming off a win at the Cincinnati Open and headed into the US Open in a good position.