Aryna Sabalenka has completed her jewelry Grand Slam From diamonds to colourful gemstones and oversized necklaces

Since its origins, tennis has always acted as a bridge between sport and the luxury world. Even more so in the age of new media, where athletes become fully-fledged advertising vehicles for major brands, especially in a predominantly individual discipline. For this reason, despite the traditionalist dress codes of tournaments such as Wimbledon and a very strict code of conduct when it comes to excessive reactions, the seemingly paradoxical lack of regulation around the use of jewellery during matches comes as no surprise – unlike in many team sports, where jewellery is banned for safety reasons.

After all, the term tennis bracelet, used to describe a bracelet made up of a continuous row of diamonds, became widespread following the anecdote involving Chris Evert during the 1978 US Open, when the bracelet broke – causing the jewellery to momentarily disappear on court during a rally – and the match was brought to a halt amid general panic. A viral moment avant la lettre, immediately leveraged by the tennis player with the launch of a collection created in collaboration with designer Monica Rich Kosann. Virality, jewellery and tennis: a mix that, if recreated today in a laboratory, would undoubtedly give rise to an Aryna Sabalenka.

Material Good’s First Brand Ambassador

The WTA world number one is an avid social media user, capable of navigating platforms with a light touch – even when it comes to promotional content. The latest and most-viewed video on her highly active TikTok profile, just a few seconds long, simply shows a smiling Sabalenka shaking hands with Novak Djokovic, her doubles partner at the US Open, to the sound of a Drake song. Nothing particularly creative or exuberant that would immediately catch the eye, were it not for her latest multicoloured gemstone necklace and matching earrings.

This is the latest product of her collaboration with New York-based luxury brand Material Good, of which the Belarusian tennis player has become the first-ever jewelry ambassador. Her debut wearing pieces from the MG atelier, designed under the supervision of Head of Design Atara Lev, came during last year’s US Open, which Sabalenka won. For the current edition, however, the MG atelier decided to take things even further, creating pieces that could channel the spirit of New York – a theme already embraced by Nike’s black mesh overlay, inspired by basketball. The perfect finishing touch to a season in which the world number one has completed a luxury Grand Slam.

US Open: Thanos’ Infinity Stones

Sabalenka’s ironic and playful approach to content also comes through in the comments, with some users comparing the jewellery showcased in New York to Thanos’ Infinity Stones. Although the headquarters of Marvel was born right in the Big Apple, however, the inspiration runs deeper. Atara Lev, a Queens native, wanted to pay tribute to the melting pot on which the American city has always been built, starting with the necklace and bringing together multiple gemstones in a single piece, each with different shapes, colours and origins from across the world – including Nigeria, Tanzania, Cambodia, Myanmar and Mozambique, among those mentioned by MG’s Head of Design.

Sapphires, zircons, tanzanite and various precious gemstones have come together to create an eighty-three-carat necklace, supported by a very compact setting built around golden bars. Alongside this piece, the twenty-eight-carat bracelet follows the same concept, as do the earrings, which feature a distinctive construction: a single gemstone fitted with a detachable ear jacket carrying four additional gems, allowing the wearer to adjust their length. For now, Sabalenka has opted for the five-stone pendant configuration – just to make sure nothing is missing.

Australian Open: Diamonds and Sapphires

Sabalenka’s official debut as a jewelry ambassador came at the beginning of the year during the Australian Open, where the tennis player fell to Elena Rybakina only in the final. For the occasion, Material Good chose an ocean-inspired theme, in keeping with Nike’s fluorescent outfit, whose design was inspired by surfing wetsuits. The centerpiece was a necklace featuring a deep-blue oval sapphire resting on a pavé of white diamonds and set in an irregular yellow-gold setting. The effect evokes a drop of water falling onto the surface and creating ripples, surrounded by the golden glow of the sun.

Once again, MG created matching pendant earrings featuring the same pavé style in white diamonds, arranged in a spiky formation reminiscent of the sea urchins found along the Australian coast. Set against this luminous backdrop, four sapphires were once again placed in each earring, creating a rather long pendant inspired by the style of the one worn at the US Open.

Roland Garros: Red Clay, Red Garnets

The world number one’s taste runs counter to what is usually expected from athletes who are constantly on the move, as she favours both oversized drop pendants and, above all, necklaces made up of multiple overlapping layers. Her very first collaboration with Material Good at the 2025 US Open was built around multiple intertwined chains, featuring seven white diamonds and an imperial topaz. The Belarusian tennis player reached the peak of this layering trend during last year’s edition of the Roland Garros.

A tribute to the red clay through the vibrant crimson of garnets in an array of cuts, each one different from the next, enhanced by the presence of brilliant white diamonds and a white-gold setting. The result is an intense interplay of light and shadow – a theme echoed by the red Nike bodysuit completely enveloped in a delicate layer of black lace – spread across multiple levels, as Sabalenka alternated between double and triple necklaces throughout the tournament. Completing the look, the ever-present earrings featuring the same precious stones.

Wimbledon: The Green Heart

If ocean blue dominated the Australian Open and the red of the clay courts defined Roland Garros, the choice for Wimbledon could only be green, although reducing it to a single colour would be an understatement. For starters, all the settings were crafted from eighteen-karat gold, providing the perfect frame for the precious stones and recalling the contrast between the Rolex logo and the green of the British tournament. As for the gemstones, no fewer than forty-one brown fancy-cut oval diamonds make up the necklace in a perfectly regular sequence, evoking the earth that lies beneath Wimbledon’s courts, particularly as the tournament reaches its final stages. The grass, meanwhile, emerges through ten heart-shaped emeralds branching out into the spaces between the diamonds at the centre of the necklace.

The same motif returns in the stud earrings, which can be disassembled like those from the US Open, allowing Sabalenka to wear either the single brown oval diamond or the setting featuring the emerald green heart. The standout piece of the London collection, however, is the first anklet Material Good has created for Sabalenka, made entirely of emeralds – twenty-seven of them – continuously intertwined around the ankle. Beyond their colour, the stones were chosen because they have a special connection to the WTA world number one: emerald is considered the birthstone of people born in May, which happens to include the Belarusian tennis player.