A long-distance relationship is a challenge but the newlyweds are making it work.
Tyrone Vickery and Arina Rodionova could have had so much fun with their wedding ceremony last year. Imagine the vows ...
Tyrone, do you take Arina in first-round victories and in losing streaks?
And Arina, do you take Tyrone in long-term injuries and successful shoulder reconstructions? 
As ridiculous as such commitments sound, the pair of young elite athletes - one an emerging tall forward for the Richmond Football Club, the other a Russian-born professional tennis player - can provide exactly that kind of support to one another. At least when they are in the same time zone.
Rodionova, who will play in the women's doubles at the Australian Open with her sister Anastasia, will leave Melbourne in a few weeks to follow the tour, while Vickery continues pre-season training. While he ramps up for round one of the AFL season, she will go from tournaments in Australia and Asia to America and Europe, a gruelling schedule of seemingly endless economy flights.
The grind won't end until   September, and in the meantime the newlyweds - who tied the knot on   December 19 - will have to make do with WhatsApp and Skype. Rodionova comes home to Clifton Hill for a visit every 10-12 weeks at best.
It's been this way for three years, since they were introduced by a friend. Vickery remembers Rodionova flying 35 hours to Melbourne last year, for three days of recovery then one week relaxation at home, before hopping on a plane and rejoining the tour.
"We're in this situation where we have pretty fleeting sporting careers, so we've realised we've got to make this work until we have the chance to spend more time together," he says. "You learn to make do with what you've got."
There are benefits.
"We understand what one another is going through," says Rodionova. "The demands and pressure of professional sport. We're pretty good at going through highs and lows together."
Still, a long-distance relationship is always challenging. While Vickery was at the MCG playing in a heartbreaking elimination-final defeat against North Melbourne, Rodionova was at Flushing Meadows in New York for the most recent US Open.
"I felt really bad being overseas," she says. "I know how important it was for them, and that it was one of the hardest days of the year. I wish I was there."
Vickery remembers the same sensation during Rodionova's campaign at Wimbledon - her favourite surface and tournament. He sat at home in front of the computer, watching a live scoring update on her qualifying match.
Rodionova was in a commanding 5-1 position in the first set. The score quickly turned to 5-3. Vickery kept refreshing the screen as she lost every single game to ultimately lose the match 7-5, 6-0. A knee injury had cruelled the tournament and her entire year.
"Not sharing the good moments is OK, because you know she's happy," he says. "But the tough moments in tennis are so lonely. In footy we've got 40 other players to lean on, but how much can you help someone over the phone?"
In geographic isolation, interests serve as a useful distraction. Vickery is studying law through Victoria University while Rodionova is doing a business degree online through Indiana University. Three months ago they bought into a restaurant, Fat Monkey in Hawthorn East (soon to be renamed Al Bacio), and they are far from silent partners. They spend most of their free time there, learning the business.
Rodionova does a bit of waitressing, while Vickery is a genial host. He jumps into the kitchen to make salads and pizzas, and she has a knack for cocktails and the coffee machine.
They concede it is impossible to know how long either one will compete. Then they'll have decisions to make. Australia or Russia? Stay in sport or do something else? Kids - and how many?
For now, they would dearly like a belated honeymoon at the end of 2016, following seasons in which they are both striving for consistency and health - incremental improvement to feed off their matching competitive streaks.
The two can barely go for a jog together without it turning into a battle. A run together on Christmas morning, for instance, turned into a brutal war of attrition, Vickery striding out, Rodionova inserting shorter, sharper sprints. Somehow the moment morphed into organised drills.
"Next thing we're holding one-minute planks, and going straight into shuttle runs," says Vickery. "And we're both trying to adjust it so we've got the advantage."
"It's good," says Rodionova, laughing. "We keep each other on our toes."