"At the end I paid for my decision": Aryna Sabalenka regrets immediate return to tennis after passing of ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov

For the first time, Aryna Sabalenka opened up about the passing of her ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov which dominated tennis news around the Sunshine Double.

The former hockey star reportedly committed suicide in Miami with Sabalenka instead of taking time to grieve decided to keep playing which she regrets. Sabalenka and Koltsov dated from mid 2021 until just before his passing in March.

But with no formal announcement of their split, Sabalenka had to confirm it after he passed away. This led to a lot of conspiracy theories and fuel thrown onto the fire as Sabalenka tried to come to terms with the situation. She immediately played the Miami Open where she looked crestfallen and faced her best friend Paula Badosa in an emotional tie. But she regrets doing so.

She said that she used it as a coping mechanism when her father passed and that it wasn't the right way to do it in this situation and is one she regrets now looking back.

“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," said Sabalenka to the Guardian.

“But at the end I would say I was struggling a lot healthwise because I didn’t stop. It was really emotional and really stressful, and kind of damaged my mental health at that point."

“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," Sabalenka concluded.