Tennis world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka has said her "heart is broken" following the death of her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov.
Former ice hockey player Koltsov, who played in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins, died in Miami aged 42 on Monday in what police described as an “apparent suicide”.
Sabalenka is scheduled to participate in this week’s Miami Open and clarified in an Instagram story on Wednesday that she and Koltsov were no longer a couple before his death. “Konstantin’s death is an unthinkable tragedy, and while we were no longer together, my heart is broken,” Sabalenka wrote. “Please respect my privacy and his family’s privacy during this difficult time.” Sabalenka, the reigning two-time Australian Open champion, was pictured practising in Miami ahead of her first outing against close friend Paula Badosa, who admitted facing the Belarusian will be “uncomfortable”. “Yesterday I spoke with her a lot of time.
This morning the same. So I know what she’s going through. I know the entire situation, what is happening," Badosa said. “That for me is a little bit shocking also to go through that because at the end she’s my best friend and I don’t want her to suffer.