Aryna Sabalenka has credited her boyfriend for lifting her up during what has been a “difficult year”.
The world No. 2 is bidding to win her third Grand Slam title at the US Open, having reached the final 12 months ago.
Ahead of her quarter-final, Sabalenka gushed about her partner Georgios Frangulis and explained how happy she was to have his support.
Sabalenka and Frangulis first went public with their relationship back in May as they were invited to the Haas team garage at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Frangulis is the founder of Oakberry, and Sabalenka is a brand ambassador for the Acai company
Since their first outing earlier this year, Frangulis has followed the two-time Grand Slam champion around the world on the professional tennis tour. And Sabalenka has now thanked her boyfriend for his support.
“There was a really tough period where I was really happy to have him by my side, always cheering me up, always making sure that we are doing some fun stuff,” the Belarusian told People.
“But I make sure I kind of forget about tennis and focus on the good things and enjoy my life. Even when things are going wrong in my career. So yeah, he was my biggest support and yeah, really happy to have him by my side.”
Sabalenka has been through highs and lows this season. She was forced to pull out of Wimbledon with a shoulder injury and skipped the Olympics. Away from the tennis court, her ex-boyfriend Konstantin Kolstov passed away during the Miami Open in March. And she admitted it had been a “difficult year”.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk