Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka is engaged after her partner Georgios Frangulis presented her with a huge diamond ring while the happy couple were surrounded by flowers and candles.
The world No.1 appeared to be totally caught by surprise when her Brazilian fiancé went down on bended knee on Wednesday, covering her face with her hands before the Brazilian entrepreneur showed her the stunning engagement ring.
Sabalenka couldn’t stop smiling as she embraced and kissed Frangulis while they stood near a candlelit swimming pool decorated with flowers.
The Belarusian star posted a clip to Instagram with the caption, ‘You & me forever’ with an infinity emoji, wedding ring and white heart.
Her reveal drew messages of congratulations from Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena, Hollywood star Eiza Gonzalez, men’s tennis star Ben Shelton.
Fans have been speculating that Sabalenka and Frangulis were bound to tie the knot for several months, especially after she dropped a huge marriage hint at the Brisbane International tournament in Australia in January.
Pictured: The moment Aryna Sabalenka’s partner Georgios Frangulis proposed
The world No.1 revealed she was completely ambushed by the proposal – despite dropping several hints to her man over the last few months
Sabalenka shows off her engagement ring featuring a huge diamond
‘As always, last but not least, thank you my team for handling me,’ Sabalenka said after winning the final.
‘I’m really the toughest one to handle and you guys are the toughest people in the world if you can handle me.
‘Thank you, guys, I love you. And thank you to my boyfriend. Hopefully soon I’ll call you somehow else, right?’
As the crowd joined her in laughing, the 2024 Australian Open champion added, ‘I just put on extra pressure, right?’
Frangulis saw the funny side of the exchange as he was pictured smiling and laughing in the stands.
It’s not the first time the Belarusian star has sent her man a hint that she wants to tie the knot.
At last year’s US Open she saw a fan pop the question in the stands during one of her matches and said, ‘I looked at my boyfriend. No pressure.’
Sabalenka went public with their romance in May 2024, sharing a photo of them together after she fell to Iga Swiatek in the Italian Open.
Sabalenka made a cheeky reference to marrying her man when she won the Brisbane International tournament in Australia in January
That came two months after her ex-boyfriend, Belarusian ice hockey star Konstantin Koltsov, died after jumping from a hotel balcony in Miami in a tragedy that left the tennis star shattered.
In July 2024, Sabalenka described Frangulis as the ‘love of my life’ as the couple enjoyed a holiday after injury forced her to withdraw from Wimbledon.
Born in Brazil, Frangulis is the founder of superfood brand Oakberry, which sponsored the Haas F1 team and formed a partnership with Sabalenka after the romance began, and she created an acai bowl of her own for the brand.
He studied law before becoming an entrepreneur and has a strong interest in motor sport, having driven in 128 races of Brazil’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup competition.
Frangulis often posts touching messages to his partner on Instagram, writing ‘I’m in love with the queen of NY’ when the pair were photographed together after she won the 2024 US Open.
When Sabalenka captioned a post showing them together with ‘Tis the season for silly couples pictures, good outfits, and great food,’ he responded with, ‘Always silly never boring, te amo,’ using the Portuguese term for ‘I love you’.
Koltsov and Sabalenka were together for three years before his death and the Grand Slam champion later opened up about how she dealt with his passing.
‘Once, I lost my father and tennis helped me to go through that tough loss,’ she said.
‘So at that moment [of Koltsov’s death] I thought I had to just keep going, keep playing, keep doing my thing to separate my personal life from my career life.
‘But at the end I would say I was struggling a lot health-wise because I didn’t stop. It was really emotional and really stressful, and kind of damaged my mental health at that point.’
