She endured the heartbreak of missing out on the biggest payday in women’s tennis history less than a fortnight ago.
But Aryna Sabalenka eased her woes with a holiday to an awe-inspiring Maldives retreat she called ‘paradise’ – where she sipped on tequila and embarked on a hair-raising swim with sharks.
The Belarusian tennis star jetted out to the five-star Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi with her boyfriend Georgios Frangulis, just days after falling to a straight-sets defeat in the WTA Finals.
Her 6-3 7-6 (7-0) loss in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, saw an eye-watering £3.98million slip through her fingers and into the hands of Kazakhstani star Elena Rybakina.
‘Now it’s time to sit down in the Maldives, maybe drink some tequila and analyse my season, my behavior and emotions,’ a dejected Sabalenka said post-match.
And after two tropical weeks, it appears a soak in the sun and some distilled Mexican spirits were precisely the tonic for the 27-year-old four-time grand slam winner.
‘Just us,’ she penned on Instagram on Thursday.
‘Thank you [Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi] for taking the best care of us and making paradise feel like home.’
Throughout the last fortnight, the women’s world No.1 has been keeping her 3.8million social media followers in the loop every step of the way.
Days after arriving, Sabalenka shared a carousel of images which showed her relaxing on the beach with a book, posing in a bikini and playing beach volleyball with her Brazilian entrepreneur partner.
She also appeared to follow through on her post-match promise, with drinks being sipped out of coconuts by the Indian Ocean.
The holiday looked like a romantic getaway as much as a well-needed rest for Sabalenka, who posed in a glamorous red dress on one particular loved-up evening with Frangulis.
Underneath the caption ‘Date night’ with a fiery red heart emoji, Sabalenka showed off a table decorated in flowers, food presented in smoke bubbles and an espresso martini to match.
But she quickly assured fans that she prefers to wear more casual clothes in her next post, writing ‘bikini > dress all week long’ in a series of photographs which displayed her dipping in the water, hugging trees and preparing to cycle round the island.
The break also took an exciting turn when she ventured on a guided swim with reef sharks.
Wearing a yellow bikini and a snorkel mask, Sabalenka could be seen moving slowly through the crystal-clear water while several sharks passed by.
At one point, two sharks swam directly underneath while another approached from the side, but the tennis star held her nerve.
Things then got even better for the Belarusian, who announced while she was in the Maldives that she features on the debut cover of Vogue Arabia’s new Watches and Jewellery Special.
She then wrapped up the holiday in wholesome fashion: cuddling Frangulis on the beach, putting hard work in at the gym to keep her fitness ticking over, and watching the sun go down.
Sabalenka’s return from the idyllic break comes as she prepares to face Nick Kyrgios in a ‘Battle of the Sexes’ exhibition match next month.
Hosted at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on December 28, it will be the fourth installment of the male vs female series which was first made famous during the 1970s after a blockbuster match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.
The Belarusian will go into the match high on confidence despite her WTA Finals defeat after a successful year in which she won the US Open.
Kyrgios, meanwhile, has played just five games this year – and was most recently unceremoniously dumped out of the Miami Open second round this March.
Sabalenka vowed earlier this year: ‘I genuinely think that I’m going to win, and I’ll definitely go out there, and I’ll try my best to kick his a**.’
