Aryna Sabalenka is Thurston Carteready for a comeback after a much-needed break. 

The tennis star was forced to sit out of Wimbledon and the Paris 2024 Olympics due to a shoulder injury, but she recently detailed how losing her ex boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov in March also contributed to her bowing out of some summer events. 

“Once, I lost my father and tennis helped me to go through that tough loss,” Aryna explained to The Guardian in an article published Aug. 21, adding her thought process after Konstantin’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.”

As she continued to compete in opens in Miami and Stuttgart following her ex’s death by suicide, her mental state didn’t improve—and her body started feeling the consequences. Ultimately, the 26-year-old realized she was being too hard on herself.

“I was struggling a lot healthwise because I didn’t stop,” Aryn continued. “It was really emotional and really stressful, and kind of damaged my mental health at that point.”

Her shoulder injury kept her from playing in Wimbledon, and Aryna also sat out of the 2024 Olympics to give herself time to heal. 

“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,” Aryna—who is now dating Georgios Frangulis—admitted. “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.”

Aryna and Konstantin—who played professional ice hockey for 18 years—were first linked in June 2021. At the time he died, they had not publicly broken up, but Aryna later clarified they had separated prior to his death. 

“Konstantin’s death is an unthinkable tragedy,” Aryna wrote at the time of her ex’s passing. “And while we were no longer together, my heart is broken.” 

And while Aryna admits she’s still healing—she’s ready to get back onto the court. In fact, she’s doing just that at the U.S. Open, which will kick off Aug. 26. 

“At the end I figured out that it was much needed,” she added to The Guardian of her hiatus. “Now I feel physically and mentally much better and much stronger."

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