Tennis star Aryna Sabalenka opens up about ex-boyfriend’s suicide

'I couldn't accept it,' Belarusian tells Vogue about death of ex-boyfriend and NHLer Konstantin Koltsov

Published May 18, 2026  •  2 minute read

Aryna Sabalenka. Photo by Julian Finney /GETTY IMAGES

In the most recent edition of Vogue magazine, women’s tennis star Aryna Sabalenka discussed the suicide of her ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov.

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“I was fighting with the cop — like, I couldn’t accept it,” Sabalenka told the fashion magazine in her most recent cover story published on May 18.

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Reports at the time stated that a man had jumped off a balcony at the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in Miami on March 18, 2024.

“No foul play is suspected,” the Miami-Dade Police Department said in a statement the following day. The ex-NHLer was 42 at the time of his death.

The Belarusian tennis ace learned of Koltsov’s death the same day, when Miami police approached her on the practice courts.

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Competed in match less than one week after death

Since there is no definitive handbook on how to deal with the grieving process, Sabalenka forged ahead and played in the Miami Open less than a week after the incident.

She beat Spain’s Paula Badosa in the round of 64 on March 22.

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“I don’t know if there’s any cliché about how you’re supposed to grieve,” she told Vogue.

The Grand Slam champion then went on to lose in the third round to Anhelina Kalinina of the Ukraine the next day.

In the aftermath of her on-court setback, Sabalenka smashed her racket and canceled her press conference, prompting online criticism for her immediate return so soon after Koltsov’s death.

“I feel like in this situation, there is no right and wrong,” she said. “We all need different things. For me, going back to work is the only way. I’m 28, but sometimes I think I’ve had everything in life that you could imagine.”

In August of the same year, Sabalenka told the Independent that taking a break after Koltsov’s death would have been the proper thing to do at the time.

“Looking back, I definitely think that I should have just stopped and just separated myself from tennis, just have a little break, recharge and start things over again,” she said.

Koltsov played 144 NHL games, spread over three seasons, with the Pittsburgh Penguins. His last professional team was Minsk Dynamo in the KHL. Koltsov was also a forward with the Belarus national team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Currently, Sabalenka is dating Oakberry founder Georgios Frangulis. The pair got engaged in March of this year.

Oakberry is a quick-service food chain that specializes in 100% natural açaí bowls and smoothies.

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