For Aryna Sabalenka, 2023 is turning out to be a dream year. In January, the 24-year-old won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. Right now, the Belarusian tennis ace is participating in the 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. She is set to face Czech Barbora Krejcikova in the tournament’s Round of 16 later today, in what should be a stellar contest between the WTA rankings’ No. 2 and No. 13 players. Despite her busy schedule, Sabalenka has her boyfriend, Konstantin Koltsov, on her mind. The former ice hockey professional celebrated his 42nd birthday a couple of days ago, and Sabalenka took to Instagram to wish him.
Sabalenka and Koltsov began dating back in 2021 and today, they are lovebirds who can’t seem to get enough of each other. They’ve made some sweet memories so far, and are sure to continue making more in the days ahead. Apart from wishing Koltsov a happy birthday, Sabalenka also hinted at bigger plans for the couple in the future.
Aryna Sabalenka shows her love and support for her boyfriend
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In the post, Sabalenka wrote, “I love you @koltsov2021 Happy birthday darling❤️🙈❤️HB❤️You are my dearest person, my best friend and my strongest support❤️❤️🥰Peace to you with me 🤪, strength, patience and health❤️❤️❤️I hope that we will have everything that we have in mind❤️ love you 😘😘😘“.
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The post also featured a video that showed some of the couple’s favorite moments. Koltsov replied, “love you madly ❤️❤️❤️😘😘😘“.
While it’s too early to say if the couple will make a big announcement in the near future, they are certainly love-struck.
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Sabalenka’s love for Koltsov isn’t distracting her from her tennis ambitions
Sometimes, love can be an unnecessary distraction. However, for Sabalenka, her love for Koltsov only seems to motivate her to become a better tennis player. For the World No. 2, the French Open has been the only Grand Slam where she has underperformed. She would desperately want to change that this time around. Across 2020, 2021, and 2022, Sabalenka couldn’t go beyond the third round at Roland Garros.
For now, however, Sabalenka will be firmly focused on defeating Krejcikova in Germany. The pair have already clashed thrice before in 2023. While Krejcikova won the first encounter, Sabalenka came out on top in the other two. Another motivation that would surely impact Sabalenka’s on-court performances in the days to come is to get closer to Iga Swiatek, the current World No. 1, in the WTA rankings.
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