Aryna Sabalenka has opened up about the “beautiful moment” that long-time partner Georgios Frangulis proposed to her in Indian Wells.
World No 1 Sabalenka is in action for the first time in over a month in Indian Wells, with the Belarusian looking for a maiden triumph at the WTA 1000 event, following runner-up finishes in 2023 and 2025.
The 27-year-old started her campaign in Tennis Paradise with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory over Himeno Sakatsume on Friday, though her time in Indian Wells this year will be memorable regardless of what happens on the court.
Sabalenka revealed earlier in the week that she had said ‘yes’ to boyfriend Frangulis when he proposed to her on Tuesday, with the likes of Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff, Carlos Alcaraz, and Paula Badosa congratulating the couple.
The four-time Grand Slam singles champion has been dating Frangulis, the founder of Oakberry, since 2024, and the Brazilian has become a regular fixture in Sabalenka’s entourage in recent times.
Sabalenka shared video footage of her accepting Frangulis’ proposal on social media this week and, speaking after her win against Sakatsume on Friday, opened up about how her fiancé and her team had kept her in the dark about the proposal.
“Well, as everyone probably saw, I wasn’t prepared at all,” said Sabalenka. “It was a surprise, and I think it happened — not I think, I know it happened the third [of March].
“The whole team knew. My agent told me that I have a very important meeting for 15 minutes. Just put on something nice. She wasn’t pushing enough for me to put the makeup on, and I was super tired in the evening. I was, like: ‘Okay, I’m not going to do that. I’ll just wear jeans.’
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Then, yeah, we got there and I saw Georgios and I was crying half of the time, because I thought that I looked ugly, not prepared, and this is such a beautiful moment.”
Sabalenka would then reveal she had a “feeling” that the proposal was coming, though she did admit it also still came as a surprise.
She added: “I stopped everything, and I asked the videographer and the photographer to make sure that my face is not there, just the ring, and, I don’t know, side views and from the back, just so you guys wouldn’t be shocked by the way I looked.
“It was a beautiful moment. I was surprised even though I kind of like knew, had a feeling that it’s going to happen here. But he still managed to do a surprise.”
There is no news yet as to when Sabalenka and Frangulis will officially tie the knot, though the Belarusian will likely want to delay wedding planning until after her campaign in Indian Wells has come to its conclusion.
The world No 1 will return to action on Sunday to take on Jaqueline Cristian in the third round, and could then face fellow four-time Grand Slam singles champion Naomi Osaka in round four.
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