Aryna Sabalenka may have come up agonisingly short in the French Open final but the 27-year-old appeared to be unfazed as she enjoyed a holiday with her boyfriend in Mykonos.
Coco Gauff got the better of the Belarusian at Roland Garros but Sabalenka put her disappointment behind her with a pre-Wimbledon getaway on the Greek island.
Sabalenka took to Instagram to share a series of photos of herself and Georgios Frangulis enjoying their break.
The tennis star has been with the Oakberry founder and racecar driver Frangulis since early 2024.
Sabalenka’s rise to the world No1 ranking came despite tragedy last year when her ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov tragically died of a reported suicide after jumping from a hotel balcony in Miami.
Former NHL player and fellow Belarusian Konstantin Koltsov died at the age of 42 after falling from a balcony on the 23rd floor of a Miami five-star hotel.
Sabalenka had revealed her plans to enjoy ‘sugar and alcohol’ in Mykonos in the aftermath of her 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 loss to Gauff in one of the great women’s finals of the decade.
‘I already have a flight booked to Mykonos and alcohol, sugar. I just need couple of days to completely forget about this crazy world and this crazy, if I could swear, I would swear right now, but this crazy thing that happened today,’ Sabalenka said post-match.
‘I think everyone understands. I’m just trying to be very polite right now, but there is no other word that could describe what just happened today on the court.
‘Tequila, gummy bears and swimming, being like a tourist for a couple of days.’
This marked the second Grand Slam of Gauff’s career, having also claimed the 2023 US Open title. The world No 2 became the first American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.
In an press-conference after the final, Sabalenka argued that the three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek would have beaten Gauff had beaten her in their semi-final.
Sabalenka said: ‘That hurts. Especially when I’ve been playing really great tennis during the whole week. A lot of tough opponents, Iga.
‘I think if Iga would have beaten me, she would go out today and she would get the win.’
Gauff parried the claim away and cited her victory in straight sets against Swiatek at the Madrid Open earlier this year, which was also on clay.
Gauff rebutted: ‘I mean, I don’t agree with that. I’m here sitting here (with the trophy). Last time I played – no shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets (in Madrid).
‘I don’t think that’s a fair thing to say, because anything can happen. The way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favourite to win the title. If you asked me, honestly, who I wanted to play, it was Iga just because I felt Aryna was playing so good, and she was.
‘But regardless of who I played, I think I had a good shot to win. I definitely had that belief.’
Sabalenka made 70 unforced errors in blustery conditions, and said: ‘It felt like a joke. Like somebody from above was laughing: let’s see if you can handle this.
‘After two weeks of incredible tennis, in the final in terrible conditions to play such terrible tennis really hurts.
‘It felt like she (Gauff) was hitting the ball off the frame and somehow magically it lands in the court. I don’t think she won the match because she played incredible, just because I made all those mistakes.’