Elena Rybakina Parts Ways With Coach Goran Ivanisevic After Australian Open
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Elena Rybakina's partnership with Goran Ivanisevic didn't last long, as the two split after the conclusion of the 2025 Australian Open.
Rybakina's coaching situation has been quite complicated for the past few months. In August 2024, she stopped working with Stefano Vukov just ahead of the US Open. In New York, she reached the second round before withdrawing from the tournament.
During the off-season, Rybakina started working with a new coach. Already at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh, the Kazakhstani player announced that she would start working with Goran Ivanisevic.
It was an exciting partnership of two former Wimbledon champions, which certainly made many fans happy. On top of that, it likely made Ivanisevic very happy, as his previous pupil, Novak Djokovic, revealed that they used to watch Rybakina's matches together.
However, at the start of this year, the situation suddenly changed. Rybakina announced the reappointment of coach Vukov, which stunned the tennis world.
The announcement became even more stunning when the WTA confirmed a few hours later that Vukov was provisionally suspended, which meant that he couldn't travel to the Australian Open with his player.
According to the report by the New York Times, this move was also unknown to coach Ivanisevic, who was likely stunned by the announcement of Vukov's reappointment.
In Melbourne, he spoke to journalist Ben Rothenberg, saying that the situation "is not good for anybody." Their partnership was in doubt, and it was clear a decision would have to be made.
After her exit from the Australian Open, Rybakina stated that they would have to talk about their future, which has now been determined.
Announcing it on social media, Ivanisevic stated that after their "trial period" ended at the 2025 Australian Open, they chose not to continue working together.
"After our trial period that finished with Australian Open, I wish Elena and her team best of luck moving forward."
Oftentimes, it's the player who announces the departure of a team member, but in this case, it was Ivanisevic who shared the news. This might suggest that the 53-year-old Croatian coach was the one who initiated the split.
While Rybakina couldn't win a trophy under Ivanisevic, their partnership certainly got off to a good start. She beat the likes of Maria Sakkari and Laura Siegemund at the United Cup before losing to Iga Swiatek at the competition.
Then, she easily cruised past Emerson Jones, Iva Jovic, and Dayana Yastremska at the Australian Open before injuring herself. It was maybe also that injury that impacted her fourth-round loss to Madison Keys, which is why it would be hard to blame the split on her early loss.
Now, Rybakina will want to rest and recover to prepare for the stretch of events in the Middle East. The challenge will be doing that without her coach, as the WTA's investigation has yet to conclude, which means that her current coach, Vukov, is still provisionally suspended.
