How Aryna Sabalenka overcame her father's & ex-boyfriend's deaths thanks to tennis: US Open semifinalist's heartbreaking story

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka recently opened up about the struggles she has had to endure this year. The tennis star suffered a personal tragedy as her ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov passed away in March.

In an interview with the Guardian, Sabalenka drew parallels between the approach she took in dealing with Koltsov's death and that of her father, by immersing herself in tennis.

"Once, I lost my father and tennis helped me to go through that tough loss. 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," she said.

While Sabalenka accepted that stepping away from the sport during her period of grief might have been the "better decision," she is grateful to have tennis in her life.

"Probably, looking back right now, I would say that a better decision would have been to step back, reset and recharge, and start everything over again. 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," she added.

Sabalenka is currently playing at the US Open, where she will take on home favorite Emma Navarro in the semi-final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on September 4.

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"Of course he's my biggest motivation" - Aryna Sabalenka talked about her father in her winner's speech at Australian Open

Aryna Sabalenka won the 2024 Australian Open (Getty)

Following her 2024 Australian Open triumph, Aryna Sabalenka revealed that her late father, Sergei Sabalenka, was her "biggest motivation." Sergei tragically passed away in 2019, causing the tennis star to take refuge in the sport.

The World No. 2 is immensely grateful to her father and believes she wouldn't be in her current position if not for him.

"Of course he's [father] my biggest motivation. He's been everything for me...But right now I have my mom, my sister, who is here with me, and I feel like I have to think about them...I just feel that he's always with me. I'm very thankful for everything he did for me, and I think if it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here," Sabalenka said in her winner's speech in Melbourne.

The Belarusian then spoke about her aspirations for the rest of the season and the desire to replicate her hardcourt success on clay and grass.

"I definitely think that if I'm going to keep working like I'm working right now, and if we're going to keep building what we are building right now, I'm definitely able to do the same on the clay and on the grass," she added.

Aryna Sabalenka reached two clay-court finals in Madrid and Rome, losing both to Iga Swiatek but had to forego most of the grass-court season, owing to injury.