Shocking Details Emerge About Behavior Of Rybakina's Banned Coach Vukov

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Thursday, 20 February 2025 at 17:00
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Elena Rybakina's banned coach, Stefano Vukov, has not behaved according to the WTA's Code of Conduct, and some of the details of his behavior are truly shocking.

Rybakina has been one of the most successful players on the WTA Tour in recent years. Despite all of the success on the tennis courts, her relationship with coach Stefano Vukov has been questioned many times, especially because of the behavior of the 37-year-old Croatian.

Some of Vukov's antics were called out already years ago. He was seen behaving inappropriately by some of the members of other players' teams, but his behavior during some of Rybakina's matches was called into question as well.

Rybakina has decided to part ways with Vukov in August 2024, but no one could expect what followed afterward. The Croatian coach didn't want to accept Rybakina's decision.

The Athletic conducted a detailed report into Vukov's behavior after obtaining information from reputable sources. According to The Athletic's report, following their split, the 37-year-old "flooded her [Rybakina's] phone with text messages and more than 100 calls."

Vukov, who was an unsuccessful tennis player, having peaked at the ATP World No. 1122 position, wanted to convince Rybakina not to part ways. Because of his actions, some of the members of the 2022 Wimbledon champion's team feared for her safety, The Athletic reports.

The WTA's chief executive, Portia Archer, commented on the findings made by the WTA in a report available to The Athletic, which further underlines Vukov's shocking behavior.

"Engaging in abuse of authority and abusive conduct towards the WTA Player, including compromising or attempting to compromise the psychological, physical or emotional well-being of the Player; engaging in physical and verbal abuse of the Player; and, exploiting your relationship with the Player for further personal and/or business interests at the expense of the best interest of the Player."

The WTA was also able to obtain specific instances of some of the things that Vukov said to Rybakina. According to the report, the 37-year-old coach should have told his player that "she would still be in Russia picking potatoes without him."

On top of that, Vukov reportedly called Rybakina "stupid" and "retarded," and also threw balls at her. All of these details are shocking, especially considering that the Croatian coach can appeal the WTA's decision.

He was banned for one year, but he has a chance to submit an appeal until February 21st, 2025. Considering all the details of this case, it's hard to see the WTA changing its decision even if Vukov would appeal it.

For now, Rybakina works with a new coach, Davide Sanguinetti, but the 52-year-old Italian is reportedly in close contact with Vukov, who can't officially coach the WTA World No. 7 player because of his ban.

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