Former Australian tennis star Arina Rodionova announces divorce, sets up OnlyFans account
In a bizarre video uploaded to social media, former Australian top-ranked tennis player Arina Rodionova announced she and ex-Australian Football League player Ty Vickery – who played 119 games for Richmond – have split after nine years together.
The couple went public with the news on Wednesday as the 35-year-old left the country following her second-round Australian Open exit.
In a post captioned, “Life happens. We have lots of love for each other but sometimes it’s just not enough”, Rodionova explained the situation on Instagram.
“We’re getting divorced,” Rodionova said.
“We’ve been separated for about a year. Friends and family know but we just wanted to let the wider community know about this situation. Thank you.”
Vickery added: “We’re good. We’re good with each other and we wish each other the best. Thanks for the support.”
The clip ended with Rodionova offering a handshake and Vickery placing a half-eaten banana in her hand instead, with both of them sharing a chuckle.
The banana innuendo of the interaction appeared to slyly point to Rodionova’s latest career move – be it deliberate or accidental – her starting an OnlyFans just over a week ago.
Rodionova followed up the video by sharing a picture of herself on a flight out of Sydney. “Bye Australia, love you always,” she wrote.
Rodionova sparked rumors she had split with her long-time partner by signing up to the adults-only site.
Announcing the move on Jan. 12, Rodionova wrote on Instagram: “Good news for everyone who was asking. My OnlyFans account was confirmed so here we go. Let’s do this.”
Rodionova’s OF bio is similar to her Instagram one “I am a tennis player” but with a twist.
It reads: “I am a tennis player but a fun one”.
It comes after last year Rodionova revealed she had been prompted to start an adults-only content page by a fan, in what she described as the greatest compliment ever.
“Stop with tennis, you’ll make more money with OnlyFans. It was the best compliment, which I’ve got this year,” Rodionova said last year in a vlog with fellow tennis player Daria Kasatkina.
On the court, the last 12 months have been difficult for Rodionova.
After being at the center of a wildcard controversy at last year’s Australian Open, overlooked for an entry into the main draw despite being the country’s top women’s player at the time, she was knocked out in the first round of qualifying, a result that set the tone for the year.
Despite being the oldest woman to crack the top 100 for the first time at the end of January last year, she has steadily dropped since, plummeting to 184th in the world.
