Aryna Sabalenka has gone through a lot on the personal front in recent times. In a matter of five years, she has lost two of the most important people in her life.
In 2019, she lost her father who was in his early forties. He was struck down by meningitis. She could barely recover when another tragedy struck her earlier this week. Her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov, aged 42, was found deceased at a hotel in Miami on Monday. According to Miami police, it appeared a case of suicide.
In fact, it was only in the wake of the tragedy that the world got to know about Sabalenka and Koltsov not being together anymore thanks to an Instagram story in which she also wrote: “Konstantin’s death is an unthinkable tragedy… my heart is broken.”
Her father Sergey and Koltsov were both former ice hockey players. In the face of the tragedy, Sabalenka, two-time grand slam winner, has decided to continue with her playing schedule, and on Friday comfortably beat Paula Badosa in her first match at the Miami Open. She had a first-round bye.
That she has decided to continue can be interpreted differently. To some, it may come as shocking. To the others, it may come as a brave, stoic call. The truth of the matter is everyone has a different coping mechanism. After losing a beloved, even if it’s an ex-boyfriend, some people totally blank out for weeks, grieving their loss, incapable of doing anything productive. Then, there are people who keep themselves busy by doing what they do best. This is their way of dealing with a tragedy.
Indian fans will remember how Virat Kohli came back to resume his innings in a Ranji Trophy game despite the fact that his father had passed away in the wee hours of that day. And he made 90 in all to help Delhi avoid an outright defeat against Karnataka.
There is also the example of Sachin Tendulkar who lost his father during the 1999 World Cup. He returned to India from England to attend the cremation and flew back shortly after to score a match-winning century against Kenya.
Tendulkar and Kohli… their decision in the face of the greatest of tragedies anyone can suffer reflected their mental fortitude. There are so many such stories in the world of sports.
Sabalenka had featured in a Netflix documentary and revealed a pact she had had with her father. The scene was filmed before she won her maiden grand slam at the Australian Open in 2023. “I lost my father four years ago. We had one dream, that before 25 I will win a couple of grand slams. And when he passed away, I started thinking too much about it. Now I’m 24 and there is zero in my pocket,” she said.
Sabalenka turned 25th on May 5 last year and wasn’t exactly 25 when she comfortably beat Qinwen Zheng in straight sets to lift her second grand slam again in Melbourne in January earlier this year. But she wasn’t very far from honouring the pact, was she?
The Belarusian is a great example of how a strong mind can work miracles, and she should be praised for her decision to continue with the Miami Open and then deliver a solid performance against Badosa. “She is a very, very strong woman, strong personality. You can see it on the court…I know her off court so it doesn’t surprise me at all. I knew she was going to play very well or like normal,” Badosa said of Sabalenka after the match.
Rest assured, Sabalenka is not appearing in the Miami Open for the sake of it. She has a champion’s mentality and no one should be surprised if the world number two eventually goes on to lift the title. She has shown stoicism in the past, she can certainly show it again.
