the father who died young, the sprints on the sand, the tiger on his arm – Corriere.it

Dad, would you be proud of me?. Shortly after winning the first Grand Slam of his career, Aryna Sabalenka – Belarusian, first champion tennis player without a flag – had a thought for those who were missing from her party. Pap Sergey, who had been a professional ice hockey player, who died at the age of just 44: the relationship between the two was special, and it was during a car trip together when Aryna was six years old that little Sabalenka was intrigued by the tennis players who saw each other on the street so much that they wanted to try and hold a racket. It all started like this, and everything continues with the greatest joy experienced alone, after two Grand Slams had already arrived, but in doubles: in 2019 in New York and two years ago again in Australia.

This triumph, which arrived in the final against the Kazakh Rybakina, has a special flavor and above all follows a growth also certified by the achievement of the finals in the last WTA Finals, lost against Caroline Garcia in a 2022 that started very badly: Sabalenka, in fact, Melbourne she had been eliminated in the round of 16 by Kaia Kanepi (number 115 in the ranking), committing 15 double faults. A huge amount, if you consider Aryna’s physical structure (over 1.80 m tall, supported by 80 kilos of muscle tissue) and the importance of her serve in her game. Problems, mental and technical, solved thanks to the help and a specialist in biomechanics: the rest was done by an uncommon dedication to work, as evidenced by the numerous shots in the gym (or in training on the sand) visible on his social profiles. In which there are also posed shots and photos with her partner, the Belarusian former ice hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, 17 years older than Aryna (he was born in 1981, she was 1998), who from a previous marriage had already had three children and with a past in the Belarusian Olympic national team and in Nhl.

In May, during the Internationals at the Foro Italico, he played the tournament but the couple also had the opportunity to visit the Colosseum, Piazza Navona, the Circus Maximus and to dine in Trastevere. When she was 18, Sabalenka instead decided to tattoo the face of a tiger on her left arm: a choice due to the fact that 1998 was the year of the tiger in China, but the tiger also became her nickname, which for the Physical power combined with speed in the strokes is what best matches his tennis. He was unable to celebrate with his flag, but he expressed his thoughts on the war in the weeks preceding and during the tournament: The situation is terrible and we all know it. I am and we are obviously concerned about what is going on. If I could do something to bring about peace, I would do it: unfortunately, however, I can’t do anything. But what was the point of excluding us from Wimbledon?.