'Vukov Is Not Kindest To Her': Rybakina's Coaching Decision Doubted By Ex-Player
News
Elena Rybakina's recent reappointment of Stefano Vukov and his provisional suspension announced by the WTA caused many reactions from fellow active and former players.
The Kazakhstani player might have enjoyed a relatively successful tournament at the 2025 United Cup, reaching the semi-finals with Kazakhstan, but unfortunately, instead of her results, the focus has been on her coaching carrousel.
Rybakina parted ways with Stefano Vukov in 2024, hiring Goran Ivanisevic ahead of the new season. But shockingly, she announced that she would start working with Vukov again.
Shortly after that, it was revealed that Vukov is being investigated by the WTA, and because of that, he was provisionally suspended. Nobody really knows what exactly is the point of the investigation, but there have been rumors about Vukov's abusive behavior for a long time now.
Some active players were asked to comment on the situation during their press conferences, while some former players chose to comment on the situation because they wanted to.
Former doubles World No. 1 Pam Shriver made a strong comment on social media, calling Vukov out for "known abuse." Another former player, Coco Vandeweghe, spoke about the situation on a recent broadcast of the Tennis Channel Live.
"I’m sorry, but where there’s smoke, there’s probably fire. Sometimes, other people need to protect you if you can’t protect yourself, and that’s what the tours are trying to do from what they have seen and learned about Vukov."
"As much as I want to trust Elena Rybakina’s opinion and choices, I’ve seen some other images and I think we all have in matches that Vukov is not the kindest to her."
Not only Vukov's suspension, but also his reappointment puts Rybakina and her current coaching team in a very challenging position.
Ivanisevic was brought into the team as a coach only recently, and only a few weeks later, the Kazakhstani player brought back her old coach. This, according to Vandeweghe, might cause even more trouble in her team.
"I’d be surprised if we see Goran at AO. I think this kind of movement going on the coaching carousel that is Elena Rybakina’s team, I wouldn’t want to be the new coach that’s supposed to be the new coach for Elena Rybakina and bringing in an old voice again."
"That means you don’t trust me enough to make you better, put you in that next step forward, which is what Elena Rybakina was looking for."
Prakash Amritraj, who is a former ATP player, was also part of the Tennis Channel Live broadcast, and he agreed with Vandeweghe's claims.
"It’s never easy, especially when you’ve had a long relationship with someone, to be able to draw boundaries if those boundaries need to be drawn. Rybakina has this beautiful light about her; we don’t want to see her down, we don’t want to see her dim."
"Hopefully, she can make the healthiest decision for herself, but there’s certainly miscommunication and contradiction in what seems to be going on."
