Sabalenka’s boyfriend dies in apparent suicide at 42
THE boyfriend of tennis world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka has died suddenly aged 42 in Florida in what has been described as “an apparent suicide”.
Despite her bereavement, Sabalenka is still expected to play in the Miami Open, which would involve a first match towards the end of this week, although she will not perform her usual post-match press conferences.
Video clips from the site suggest that Sabalenka went ahead with her practice session on Monday despite the tragic death of Konstantin Koltsov only a matter of hours earlier. She was pictured on court again on Tuesday after news of his death had been reported.
In a statement, the Miami-dade Police Department said they had been called to the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort – a luxury hotel near Miami Beach – at 12.39am on Monday morning “in reference to a male that jumped from a balcony”.
The statement added: “No foul play is suspected.”
This is the second time that Sabalenka has lost one of those closest to her at an appallingly young age. In 2019, her father Sergey – another former icehockey player – passed away at 43 after contracting meningitis.
Koltsov played for the Belarus national team in the 2002 and 2010 Olympics, and spent parts of three seasons with the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins between 2002 and 2006. Renowned for his speed on the ice, Koltsov won the Russian Super League with Salavat Yulaev in 2008 and returned to the club as an assistant coach.
Sabalenka and Koltsov were first linked in June 2021, according to People magazine, and she has frequently posted photos of them together on her Instagram account.
“I love you @koltsov2021,” she wrote in one post that included heart and other emojis. “Happy birthday my love. You are my dearest person, my best friend and my strongest support. Peace be with you, strength, patience and health. I hope we will have everything we planned I love you.”
The tragedy of Sabalenka’s father’s death featured in Netflix’s behind-thescenes documentary series Break Point. In the opening episode of season two titled The Curse, after Sabalenka had won her first grand slam in Melbourne at the start of last year, the cameras caught her speaking to her mother over the phone.
“Mum, don’t cry, I’m starting to cry, cameras are filming me here,” Sabalenka told her mother. “Mum, don’t start talking about Dad, damn it.”
The Curse episode was named as such after nine of the 10 featured players in the series were eliminated from the 2023 Australian Open by the end of the first week. It’s at that point that it focuses solely on the last star remaining in either singles draw, Sabalenka, and the remainder of the Belarusian’s victorious campaign. At the series’ premiere at the start of this year, she joked “What f------ Netflix curse?”