Aryna Sabalenka's boyfriend Georgios Frangulis sends love to Belarusian as she reflects on her Wuhan Open heartbreak

Aryna Sabalenka's boyfriend Georgios delivered a brief but heartwarming reaction to a message penned by the Belarusian in the aftermath of her exit from the 2025 Wuhan Open, where she was the three-time defending champion. The reigning No. 1's hopes of a fourth-straight title in Wuhan were dashed by Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.

Things looked to be going Sabalenka's way after the Belarusian registered a dominant 6-2 first-set win against Pegula. However, the American's miraculous powers of recovery took centerstage soon after, as she won the next two sets 6-4, 7-6(2) to oust the defending champion from the prestigious WTA 1000 hardcourt tournament.

Subsequently, Aryna Sabalenka shared a post on Instagram consisting of her most cherished memories from this year's Wuhan Open. Through the post's written caption, the World No. 1 admitted that her semifinal exit wasn't the 'ending she wanted'. However, she remained thankful at the same time as she expressed her gratitude to the fans who came out to support her at the event.

"That’s a wrap on @wuhanopenwta 🤍🇨🇳 Not the ending I wanted but thankful for the time spent here. Thank you to the fans for the support and making this stadium feel like home 💪🏼," Sabalenka wrote.

Subsequently, Sabalenka's boyfriend Georgios Frangulis, the Brazil-born entrepreneur with Greek roots, entered the comments section and sent a red heart emoji to the Belarusian.

Frangulis' comment on Sabalenka's Instagram post following her 2025 Wuhan Open exit (Source: Instagram/arynasabalenka)

Wuhan Open set for new champion for the first time since 2018 after Aryna Sabalenka's heartbreaking SF loss to Jessica Pegula

Aryna Sabalenka (left) and Jessica Pegula (right) after the conclusion of the pair's 2025 Wuhan Open semifinal (Source: Getty)

At the 2018 Wuhan Open, Aryna Sabalenka dethroned Caroline Garcia as the champion of the WTA 1000 event. Remarkably, the Belarusian went on to successfully defend her crown in Wuhan the next year and then again in 2024. The tournament was suspended from 2020 to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This time around, after seven years, the Wuhan Open is slated to get a new champion, with the upcoming final pitting Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula against each other. Gauff won the other semifinal against Jasmine Paolini.

Pegula boasts a 4-2 lead against Gauff in the pair's WTA Tour-level head-to-head, but it's the latter who is likely to be more confident of the two heading into the 2025 Wuhan Open final. So far, Gauff has won all her matches at the tournament in straight sets, while all of Pegula's contests have needed three sets to decide them.

Edited by Sudipto Pati