Elena Rybakina denies mistreatment by coach Stefano Vukov and criticises WTA suspension

Elena Rybakina has spoken out about the controversies involving her former coach Stefano Vukov. In 2024, accusations emerged against the Croatian coach, alleging mistreatment of the 2022 Wimbledon champion. However, Rybakina dismissed these rumours following her loss to Iga Swiatek at the United Cup.

During the WTA Finals, after a nearly two-month absence, Rybakina addressed the allegations: "I know that a lot of rumours are going around. But honestly, we just parted ways with Stefano. I think we achieved incredible results over five years."

Towards the end of the year, it was announced that Rybakina had started working with Goran Ivanisevic, former coach of Novak Djokovic, marking his first venture into the WTA. The world No. 6 has been training with the former world No. 2 in recent weeks. Nonetheless, news surfaced that Vukov would also be travelling to Australia, something Rybakina later confirmed on social media.

However, the WTA issued a statement declaring that Vukov was suspended amid ongoing investigations into the allegations against him. As a result, he is barred from being part of her team box or receiving accreditation to attend events as a member of Rybakina’s staff.

During a press conference following her United Cup exit, Rybakina was questioned about her situation with the coach: "Well, I'm working with Goran, and these articles came out," she explained. "I mean, I can only say—and I’ve said it before—that he never mistreated me or anything like that. I’m working with Goran, and I’m happy with how things have been going over the last few weeks."

“As I also said, that Stefano (Vukov) 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. 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.”

“Yeah, but the only thing I can say is, like, he never mistreated me. I have respect to him for everything he did from the very beginning when I was ranked 200.. all the way what we did, like, I don't know. You can name me other coaches who had the same success with players who have been 200 and then winning a Grand Slam and being in the top.”

After Elena Rybakina parted ways with Stefano Vukov in 2024, issues surrounding the coach began to emerge. Russian tennis journalist Sonya Tartakova revealed that Vukov’s alleged verbal abuse had caused psychological stress for Rybakina, leading to mental health struggles.

The Kazakh tennis star withdrew from multiple tournaments throughout 2024, citing back and stomach issues. However, Tartakova suggested a deeper cause: "Many people do not understand the reason for such health problems. They said that she is having difficulties, back problems. This is the official reason. Then, that during this year she had problems with her stomach. But as people who did not work with her, but were involved in her professional career, say, she is now under a lot of stress and it is all psychosomatic. She is now in a completely disorganized state, she cannot play.”

"Elena Rybakina's parents stood up for her, because she could not break this vicious circle. On the one hand, this is the coach who worked with her since she was 17, and she herself, together with her family, chose him," she said back in September of 2024.

“It is clear that they were very close, she won the main achievements of her career thanks to their joint work, and her parents insisted that Lena change something in her tennis life, because there was pressure, and insults, and bad words said to her. They were constantly from Vukov's lips," she added.

"And now Elena Rybakina is suffering and trying to get rid of psychological problems, so the situation is, of course, very difficult for her, but we'll see. I tried to find out if there is official information that he is banned from the WTA tour, because we discussed this several months ago, that a report was allegedly written on him and he was suspended from work," she said.