Boyfriend of tennis star dies aged 42

Mixed reports have emerged about the cause of death of Konstantin Koltsov, the boyfriend of tennis player Aryna Sabalenka.

The news broke yesterday that the 42-year-old ice hockey player and coach had died suddenly in Miami.

Sabalenka is also in Miami preparing for the Miami Open this week.

Multiple reports claim Sabalenka intends still to play the tournament, although it has not been made official.

Police in Miami said the death was “an apparent suicide” and “no foul play is suspected”.

However, news outlet Telegraf reports that Koltsov died of “a detached blood clot”. Koltsov was part of the Belarus national team at the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics.

Russian club Salavat Yulaev announced the news yesterday.

Kolstov also spent time playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League, between 2002 and 2006.

In 2008, he won the Russian Super League title with his local club Salavat Yulaev, to which he later returned as a coach.

Sabalenka, 25, and Koltsov have been together since 2021.

The 2024 Australian Open champion was defeated in the round of 16 at Indian Wells last week. She is scheduled to play her opening match at the Miami Open on Friday.

It is the second tragedy to hit Sabalenka, whose father Sergey, also a former ice hockey player, died in 2019 at the age of 43.

Sabalenka’s victory at the Australian Open fulfilled the dream she shared with her father of winning two slam titles by the age of 25 and, speaking in Melbourne, she said: “It was really important. Of course he’s my biggest motivation. He’s been everything for me.”

Messages sent to Sabalenka’s publicist and Miami Open tournament officials seeking comment were not immediately returned.

This story first appeared on Nine and is republished with permission.