Aryna Sabalenka says her health suffered after the death of her former boyfriend in March as illness derailed her French Open campaign before she missed Wimbledon due to injury; If you are affected by this story, please visit sky.com/viewersupport
Saturday 24 August 2024 07:35, UK
Aryna Sabalenka admits she should have taken a break from tennis after the death of her former boyfriend in March.
Sabalenka was in action at the Miami Open when ex-NHL player Konstantin Koltsov died aged 42 in what police described as an apparent suicide, with the Belarussian saying at the time she was "heartbroken".
However, she did not withdraw from the tournament but her health suffered over the next few months as illness derailed her French Open campaign before having to pull out of Wimbledon with a shoulder injury.
She took a break after that and returned in style by winning the recent Cincinnati Open and has now set her sights on adding the US Open, which starts on Monday, live on Sky Sports.
"I think definitely after this year mentally I will become even stronger," the 2023 runner-up said.
"I felt like there was no gap to get stronger mentally than I am at the moment. But things showed me that actually there is a way to improve.
"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.
"I think I overplayed and I carried a lot. At the end, it just hit me with the injury and also I was sick, I was injured, I had a stomach issue at the French Open.
"Health-wise I was struggling a lot and that's why I think that this break was much-needed.
"Not like I'm happy to get injured, but I'm happy that I had this time off and this kind of like time to reset my mind, and to get ready for the hard court."
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