This is the year of sporty power couples breaking off their engagements. First, it was Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki. That one was weird — golfer McIlroy reportedly broke up with tennis player Woz by telephone. Now, the shoe’s on the other foot, as tennis-er Maria Kirilenko confirmed that she ended her engagement to hockey star Alexander Ovechkin on Sunday.
Kirilenko, 27, isn’t a household tennis name at this point (most people probably associate that surname with Andrei, the basketball player), though she won a bronze medal in the Olympics in 201, and made a number of major quarterfinals over the years as she ascended the rankings. She was ranked as high as 10th in the world in 2013.
That might have been her apex. Thanks to injuries and several upsets and first-round exits (most recently at Wimbledon), she’s plunged out of the top 100. Bummer.
Some outlets are reporting that an Instagram photo of Ovechkin, whom Kirilenko has been dating since 2011, was a primary reason for their breakup. Ovechkin is seen in a helicopter with a Russian gymnast, ostensibly about to join the mile high club. While we won’t speculate as to the cause of the end of the relationship (one photo with one chick, really?), we will say that if Ovechkin was stepping out on Kirilenko… bad call. Here’s what we mean (via Instagram):
Should Rory and Maria, and Caroline and Alex, hook up now? That’d be… weird, actually.