Aryna Sabalenka didn’t spend long dwelling on her tough finish at the WTA Finals. Less than two weeks after her straight-sets loss to Elena Rybakina in Riyadh, the world No. 1 traded the bright arena lights for the soft glow of a Maldivian sunset.
The defeat cost Sabalenka the largest payout in women’s tennis history, a staggering $5.2 million prize that went to her Kazakh rival instead. It was a hard moment at the end of an otherwise dominant season.
So Sabalenka did what many athletes talk about but rarely follow through on. She stepped away. She swapped the pressure of the tour for a quiet villa at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, where she and her boyfriend, entrepreneur Georgios Frangulis, began what quickly became a two-week escape packed with sun and simplicity.
She had teased the idea moments after the final, joking that she wanted to “sit down in the Maldives, maybe drink some tequila and analyze my season.” Her followers soon discovered she meant every word.
Aryna Sabalenka enjoys a getaway filled with saltwater, tequila and a much-needed reset
Through beach photos, ocean dips and morning reads under the palm trees, Sabalenka kept her 3.8 million Instagram followers updated as she found her rhythm again. She shared moments playing beach volleyball, sipping cocktails from coconuts and taking slow bike rides around the island. On one evening, she and Frangulis dressed up for a romantic dinner complete with flowers, smoke-plated dishes and espresso martinis. The next morning she was back in her swimsuit, writing that bikinis fit her vacation mood far better than dresses.
The most surprising chapter of her trip came during a guided swim with reef sharks. Wearing a yellow bikini and snorkel gear, Sabalenka glided calmly through clear turquoise water while several sharks passed beneath her. Even when two slid directly under her and another approached from the side, she remained steady and unbothered.
Her break wasn’t all leisure. Sabalenka squeezed in gym sessions, watched sunsets on the beach and announced her appearance on the debut cover of Vogue Arabia’s new Watches and Jewellery Special. It was the kind of reset that mixes rest with small reminders of the life waiting back home.
Now she’s shifting her focus to the December 28 “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition match in Dubai against Nick Kyrgios. He’s barely played this season, while Sabalenka enters the event with the confidence of a recent US Open champion. Earlier in the year she even admitted she expects to win and plans to “try my best to kick his a**.”
Her Maldives escape may have been peaceful, but her competitive edge is clearly intact.
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