Rybakina's Banned Coach Vukov 'Wanted To Come After' Serena's Ex-Coach After Accusations
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The saga involving Elena Rybakina's former coach, Stefano Vukov, has taken another turn after Rennae Stubbs said the Croatian wanted to sue her for comments she made about his behavior toward Rybakina.
Vukov was suspended for a year by the WTA after finding that he had mistreated Rybakina during their time together. He coached the Kazakhstani for over five years, helping her win the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
Despite their success together, Vukov's animated and aggressive coaching style caused controversy, with some thinking he was abusive to her and that he might be even worse behind the scenes.
After splitting with Vukov in August and not playing for a few months, there was widespread shock when Rybakina announced he would return to her team for the 2025 season, leading to the WTA revealing the investigation that led to his eventual one-year ban.
Despite Rybakina insisting that Vukov never abused her, many figures who had been sounding the alarm about the Croatian before the WTA's investigation feel he deserved to be punished and that the governing body was right to intervene.
In an episode of the Rennae Stubbs Podcast, Serena Williams' former coach Stubbs recounted saying Vukov was very negative on her podcast a few years ago, although she did not accuse him of abusing her.
"I have seen him yelling at her, I could have been one of those witnesses. And I probably was one of those witnesses because they interviewed me years ago about him because I made comments on this podcast years ago about him. And I never said anything about him abusing her. I just said he was very negative."
"And I felt like with a positive coach, wow, how much better could she be? Imagine how good she could be with a really positive coach. And so those are the comments I made about him. And then he actually, contacted the WTA and wanted to come after me for making those comments."
Stubbs then listed some of the shocking details in the WTA's investigation about how Vukov acted. The Australian had no hesitation in calling one aspect of what he did to Rybakina physical abuse.
"You would still be in Russia picking potatoes, that’s what he said to her. Now the difference is the WTA are getting factual information from team members of Elena Rybakina. So you think about it, there’s physios, there’s fitness trainers that have been with her for a long time that are now no longer with her."
"They saw the abuse, they saw the mental abuse. They saw him throwing tennis balls at her. That’s physical abuse. First of all, I have coached, I have been coached, I have seen other coaches, I know what abuse is and he is abusive to her, period."
The former coach also stunningly revealed that Vukov wanted to sue her for the comments she made about him a few years ago on her podcast.
"He came after me and wanted to sue me, OK, for saying things about him that were true, that have been now investigated for years are now true. He has been banned for a year now because what I told them years ago has been now backed up by several other people who are in her actual team."
