Aryna Sabalenka Shares How She Got Through the ‘Tough’ Aftermath of Her Ex-Boyfriend’s Apparent Death by Suicide
Aryna Sabalenka Shares How She Got Through the ‘Tough’ Aftermath of Her Ex-Boyfriend’s Apparent Death by Suicide
Skyler CarusoThu, August 13, 2026 at 4:45 PM UTC
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Aryna Sabalenka.Credit: Robert Prange/Getty -
Aryna Sabalenka opened up about coping with the death of her ex-boyfriend, Konstantin Koltsov, in her TIME cover story published on Aug. 13
The tennis star explained how the sport got her through the “tough” aftermath
The former NHL player died a few years after her dad’s unexpected death in 2019
Aryna Sabalenka is opening up about life after loss.
The Belarusian tennis star, 28, shares how she dealt with the death of her ex-boyfriend, former NHL player Konstantin Koltsov, who died from an apparent suicide at age 42 in March 2024, while speaking to Time for their September cover story, published Thursday, Aug. 13.
Sabalenka was preparing for the Miami Open when she learned of Koltsov’s death. Her current coach, Anton Dubrov, suggested she take some time off from tennis, but the sport was her escape.
Aryna Sabalenka and Konstantin Koltsov.Credit: Aryna Sabalenka/Instagram
“Tennis really saved me from depression,” she told Time. “I was just trying to focus on training, just so I spend less time with myself in my thoughts. I would cry in practice a lot. It was a very tough moment in my life.”
The Grand Slam champion, who had split from the former pro hockey player prior to his death, previously shared that she learned he had died on March 18, 2024, when Miami police approached her on the practice tennis courts.
“I was fighting with the cop — like, I couldn’t accept it,” she told Vogue in May.
Aryna Sabalenka.Credit: Ishika Samant/Getty
Sabalenka returned to tennis days later by playing in the Miami Open, but lost in the third round to the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina. She smashed her racket and canceled her press conference, which prompted online backlash for her immediate return after Koltsov’s death.
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“I don’t know if there’s any cliché about how you’re supposed to grieve,” she said. “I feel like in this situation, there is no right and wrong. We all need different things. For me, going back to work is the only way. I’m 28, but sometimes I think I’ve had everything in life that you could imagine.”
Koltsov died five years after the death of her dad, Sergey Sabalenka, who passed away unexpectedly of meningitis in 2019 when the athlete was 21 years old. She turned to him both personally and professionally, sharing a close relationship made the loss that much harder, she said.
Konstantin Koltsov of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2004.Credit: Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images
“People say that time helps, but in some ways I struggle more now because I know how much fun my dad would be having with my success,” the tennis player, who’s now engaged to fiancé Georgios Frangulis, said in May.
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“Nowadays my fiancé will find me crying in bed in the evening because I’m watching Reels and there’s something about a father, or old times,” she shared. “The most sensitive videos for me are when I see people posting a family reaction to their kid athlete winning something, and I just imagine how my dad would react to me.”
“I’m crying like crazy, like I just lost him,” the tennis star said. “There are so many fathers on tour, and when I see a healthy relationship and a proud dad, I think, Girl, just enjoy it, because you never know what’s coming. You’re so lucky.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
