Elena Rybakina Breaks Silence On Suspension Of Her Controversial Coach Vukov
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Elena Rybakina reappointed her controversial coach, Stefano Vukov, but it soon became known that he was suspended by the WTA, and she now reacted to that.
The Kazakhstani player isn't one to cause many controversies. Rybakina is a soft-spoken player who usually lets her racket do the talking. She doesn't even wildly celebrate her wins, and she isn't the player that would cause any problems.
But there is still one problematic part of her tennis career. Rybakina's coach, Stefano Vukov, was accused of mistreating the Wimbledon champion by many people involved in the sport, but also former players, who heard rumors from those around the Tour.
At first, there were only rumors and speculations, but recently, the WTA confirmed that Vukov was provisionally suspended. At the moment, there is an ongoing investigation into his behavior.
That certainly caused even more worries among the fans. Rumors could have been dismissed as not factual, but an actual investigation by the WTA hints at a real issue.
Naturally, the Kazakhstani player wouldn't avoid a question about her coach's suspension, especially after she chose to hire him again despite parting ways at the end of the last season.
After Kazakhstan's loss to Poland at the 2025 United Cup, Rybakina had to face the press, and she likely expected the question to come up. The World No. 6 was asked about the provisional suspension, but she denied Vukov "mistreating" her.
"Well, I'm working with Goran, and these articles came out, I mean, I can only say and I said it already before that he never mistreated me or it was never anything like that."
"I mean, I'm working with Goran. I'm happy the way we work now for the couple of weeks. As I also said, that Stefano 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."
Rybakina is not a native English speaker, which might have made it a bit difficult for her to fully share her thoughts about the topic, which is this sensitive.
Still, she explained that she was not happy about the situation, mostly relating to the comments made by people around the Tour. Rybakina thinks those comments are not fair.
"Of course I'm not really happy with the situation. 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."
It was clear from Rybakina's words that she respects Vukov mostly because of how he managed to help her with her tennis career. At the same time, she reiterated that she was not mistreated by the Croatian coach.
"Yeah, but the only thing I can say is, like, he never mistreated me. I have respect for him for everything he did from the very beginning when I was 200 all the way what we did, like, I don't know."
"You can name other coaches who had the same success with players who have been 200 and then winning Grand Slam and being in the top."
It's natural that Rybakina defended someone who she reappointed only recently. Regardless, the investigation certainly raises some question marks, and the WTA's findings will be under the microscope.
