section_path: Personal life
section_name: Personal life
paragraph_text: Personal life
  
  Sabalenka has a tiger tattoo on her left arm that has earned her the nickname "The Tiger", which she has used to refer to herself. She studied at the Belarusian State University in a sports-related program. Her tennis idols growing up were Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
  
  Her father Sergey, a former ice hockey player, died suddenly in 2019 at age 43. He had meningitis.
  
  Sabalenka's boyfriend since 2021, Konstantin Koltsov, died of an apparent suicide in March 2024 at age 42. Sabalenka later confirmed the couple were separated at the time of his death.
  
  Sabalenka has a tiger tattoo on her left arm that has earned her the nickname "The Tiger", which she has used to refer to herself. She studied at the Belarusian State University in a sports-related program. Her tennis idols growing up were Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
  
  Her father Sergey, a former ice hockey player, died suddenly in 2019 at age 43. He had meningitis.
  
  Sabalenka's boyfriend since 2021, Konstantin Koltsov, died of an apparent suicide in March 2024 at age 42. Sabalenka later confirmed the couple were separated at the time of his death.