• Published on 03/22/2024 – 20:49 • Miami (USA)
Aryna Sabalenka, number two tennis player in the world, entered the court this Friday (22) dressed in black in reference to her mourning over the death of her boyfriend, Konstantin Koltsov. Despite the recent blow, she won her first match at the WTA 1000 in Miami, Florida.
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Three days after the tragedy of her partner’s death, the two-time Australian Open champion defeated her best friend, Spaniard Paula Badosa, former number two in the world, and won her first match at the Miami Open, with 6/4 and 6/3 after 1h23min on the Grandstand court, the second main court in the Hard Rock Stadium complex.
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The tennis player lived days of chaos with the tragedy that the Miami Dade police are investigating as a suicide hypothesis. Sabalenka said she would not hold a press conference and, after much speculation in the media, she issued a short statement on Instagram asking for respect.
In the duel, the tennis players waited for around six hours to enter the court due to the rain and had to deal with a lot of wind. Sabalenka controlled better in both sets and was more precise breaking once in the first and once in the second set, defining the game with another break in the ninth game.
Now, she will face this Saturday (23) the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, who passed the Danish Caroline Wozniacki
