A lot has happened in the last week for Rybakina, not in a good way. Firstly, she announced on her Instagram that her ex-coach, Stefano Vukov, will join her team for the 2025 season. It was surprising because she parted ways with Vukov four months ago and had already hired Giran Ivanisevic. Secondly, the news came out that WTA had suspended Vukov and was investigating him for breaching its code of conduct.
After this news came up, it looked more and more likely that Rybakina had to part ways with Vukov because he could not coach her because of the investigation. As part of the provisional suspension, Vukov is not eligible to obtain a WTA credential and won’t be allowed to coach her at the Australian Open.
Rybakina Responds to Vukov’s Suspension
Stefano Vukov has been criticized for being an unusually harsh coach. Pam Shriver, a former WTA great and Donna Vekic’s current coach, remarked on Vukov rejoining Rybakina’s team:
“It’s time for our entire sport to finally stand up to known abuse and cult-like manipulations of players. This is a very sad situation and my prayers are with Elena Rybakina.”
This statement and WTA’s suspension of Vukov for breach of conduct raise the question of whether Vukov had an abusive relationship with Rybakina.
In a recent interview, Rybakina was asked about the suspension of Vukov by WTA. She said:
“I can only say and I said it already before that he never mistreated me or it was never anything like that. I’m working with Goran and I’m happy with the way we have worked now for couple of weeks. As I also said, that Stefano (Vukov) is rejoining the team because I know the person for six years, and there is a lot of things we can do outside of the court too. Of course, I’m not happy with the comments which I see, especially from the people who are on the tour. It’s active coaches, commentators. I don’t think that it’s fair. I have respect for him for everything he did from the very beginning when I was ranked 200.”
Maybe the violation of WTA’s breach of conduct was not about the alleged abuse of Rybakina. Perhaps it was for something else that had nothing to do with Rybakina. The whole situation is weird, and we must wait for WTA’s investigation report on Vukov. All this stress and drama just before a Slam is not good for Rybakina. The quicker it’s resolved, the better for her and her new partnership with Goran Ivanisevic.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane – USA TODAY Sports
