Sabalenka Opens Up About Her Mental Health Struggle After The Death Of Her Former Partner
Written by Erik Gudris | @atntennis | Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Aryna Sabalenka is opening up for the first time in a new interview about the mental health challenges she faced following the death of her ex-partner in March.
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Sabalenka, 26, gave a new interview to the UK Guardian in which she spoke at length for the first time about the sudden death of her ex-boyfriend, former international ice hockey player and fellow Belarusian Konstantin Koltsov, 42. before the Miami Open.
Sabalenka admits that now, after thinking about it, maybe she should have dealt with her loss differently.
“At one time, I lost my father and tennis helped me get through that difficult loss,” Sabalenka said in an interview. “So at that time (at the death of Koltsov) I thought that I should continue, continue playing, continue doing my thing to separate my life from my work life.”
Aryna Sabalenka: 'I thought I had to move on… it's damaging my mental health'
– Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) August 21, 2024
In 2019, Sabalenka endured the sudden loss of her father Sergey by choosing to continue playing and focus on her career. The two-time Australian Open champion chose the same schedule after Koltsov's death. Although he made a brief statement on social media about his death and thanked his fans for their support, Sabalenka chose to continue despite what he called an “unthinkable tragedy”.
Koslov's death was ruled a suicide by local police.
Sabalenka, after the news of Koltsov's passing, surprised many by choosing to play in Miami. A few days later, Sabalenka played her best friend Paula Badosa in the opening match. Ultimately, Sabalenka pulled out early in Miami and Stuttgart and feels now that she should have taken more time to recover mentally.
“But in the end I can say that I am struggling in terms of health because I did not give up. It was really emotional and really stressful, and it hurt my mental health at the time. “Probably, looking back now, I'd say a better decision would have been to back out, reset and reinstall, and start all over again. But I did what I did. In the end I paid for my decision, but I am very happy that I have tennis in my life and it has helped me a lot to get through everything and be strong.”
ARYNA SABALENKA 🐯
pt. 10 – the queen and her prize 👑 pic.twitter.com/FQTCdKvccf
– Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 21, 2024
Sabalenka later this summer withdrew at the last minute from Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury. As he needed to recover, he did not compete in the Summer Games in Paris. A long break was needed according to the WTA star.
“It was really sad and I struggled a lot not to play Wimbledon, but at the same time I was able to take all the benefits from that moment. I was doing a lot of rehabilitation and treatment, but I was able to enjoy my life and my time away from tennis, and I took all the positive aspects of not competing on tour. “Finally, I realized that it is very much needed. Now I feel much better physically and mentally and much stronger.”
Sabalenka, fresh off winning the Cincinnati Open, enters as the No. 2 women's singles seed at this year's US Open, which begins Monday.
Photo Credit: Getty
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