Cross-sport love match between tennis star Maria Kirilenko and hockey superstar Alex Ovechkin is no more.
Russian lovebirds Maria Kirilenko and her hockey superstar fiancé, Alex Ovechkin of the NHL's Washington Capitals, are no more.
According to this news report, which cites the Russian Tennis Federation and an official release from Kirilenko's camp (and re-Tweeted by Kirilenko on her Twitter feed), they have broken their engagement but, of course, remain the best of friends.
A rough translation:
"There are many reasons, but do not want to go into details. I will say one thing: our relationship is over, but I respect Sasha as a person and athlete and I sincerely wish him continued athletic success."
"I am currently also focused on preparing for the next tournament and I hope that will soon be able to provide fans with news not only about my personal life, but also about my athletic success."
After a long relationship with fellow player Igor Andreev, Kirilenko surprised tennis fans – and dismayed many, if the reaction to this exclusive was any indication – by taking up with Ovechkin in November, 2011.
Well, that's when he officially announced it.
He said in an interview in Russian that they met at the U.S. Open that year, when he went to see countrywoman Nadia Petrova play and, lo and behold, her partner was Kirilenko. A month and a half of constant texting followed, and that was that.
They were engaged around Christmas of 2012 after being together about a year.
Ovechkin had been a staple at Kirilenko matches during his off-season – notably at the French Open.
When he wasn't there this year – and we didn't spot him at Wimbledon, either – there was a slight blip on the radar but with so much going on, no time to investigate further.
Turns out there was a reason.
Kirilenko's last Instagram pic of the couple dates all the day back to April 12, 2014.
Kirilenko was able to spend a lot of time with her man over the winter, when a knee injury that has been chronic at times kept her off the courts for months. That included some quality time at the Winter Olympics in their home country.
Since her return in Charleston in early April, Kirilenko hasn't posted too many results of note, although she did upset American Sloane Stephens in the first round at Wimbledon. It was one of only two singles wins in six tounaments so far this season.
The WTA Tour has yet to update her bio on this issue.
