Aryna Sabalenka began the journey to defending her back-to-back US Open wins dripping in rare gemstones with her final custom Grand Slam jewellery set of the season.
The world No1 partnered up at the start of the year with New York jeweller Material Good and has since debuted a new eye-catching array of pieces in Melbourne, Paris, and London.
But in keeping with the bold style of the US Open itself, her necklace, bracelet and earring set for the Big Apple is particularly vivid, featuring an array of coloured stones said to represent the city’s ‘multicultural melting pot heritage’.
Sabalenka’s necklace is set in 18-carat gold, featuring 83.20 total carats, courtesy of its sapphire, tourmaline, garnet, zircon, spinel, chrysoberyl, and tanzanite stones.
A matching bracelet, worn during her media duties, and stud earrings which can be lengthened feature similar stones, with the carats of the set as a whole totalling over 127.
Sabalenka is one of 128 players in the women’s main draw, with the carats perhaps representing each of the peers chasing her US Open crown.
Aryna Sabalenka was dripping in coloured gemstones as she stepped onto court in New York
‘Design elements were drawn from New York’s colourful spirit and unmistakable energy,’ Material Good’s description of the suite – which is available for fans to purchase upon inquiry – read.
At Wimbledon, Sabalenka wore a set worth a staggering £185,000 made up of a necklace, earrings, and an anklet, made up of predominantly green stones in a nod to the Championships’ grass courts.
Her 18 karat gold necklace featured 41 fancy brown diamonds and 10 heart-shaped emeralds, more than 46 carats combined, is worth nearly £125,000 ($165,000) on its own, just £1,000 less than the prize money for reaching the second round.
The matching stud earrings, with removable jackets, are worth nearly £35,700 ($47,200) while the 11-carat, 27-emerald anklet costs £24,700 ($32,700).
At the French Open, Sabalenka hit back at accusations of hypocrisy after she wore £76,000 worth of jewellery while cutting short her pre-tournament press conference as part the protest by 20 of the world’s top stars over prize money.
Sabalenka wore two necklaces and matching earrings at Roland Garros made up of 15.6 carat diamonds and 136.5 carat garnet while in Melbourne donned a pendant necklace with a 4.3 carat sapphire in the middle with matching dangling diamond and sapphire earrings.
The Belarusian star kicks off her tournament on Arthur Ashe against Colombia’s Camila Osorio, with her ranking and her season under threat of a stuttered finish following a difficult summer.
But Sabalenka looked to pounce early as she broke Osorio’s serve in the first set, giving her a 3-1 lead with over 15 minutes played.
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