"Maybe had such a fight that Rybakina approached WTA": Aryna Sabalenka's coach adds his own theories to Rybakina-Vukov rumours
WTA
Aryna Sabalenka's coach Anton Dubrov has offered up his own thoughts on the situation surrounding Elena Rybakina who continues her absence from the tour and recently split from long-time coach Stefano Vukov.
But the scrutiny that surrounded the split saw more questions than answers with journalist Sonya Tartakova also making the claim that the World No.4 endured pressure and insults at the hands of Vukov. While this is the mooted reason by a journalist, Vukov said that it is not discussed on tour butt hat he has his own theories.
"I saw it on social networks. This is not discussed within the tour. Since tennis is an individual sport, the teams remain within themselves due to competition. And it is rare that you enter into another team’s personal spaces," Dubrov said to Championnat.
"I don’t understand what the prerequisites could be. Sometimes, when a person finishes working with someone, he can write to the WTA in a fit of emotion, asking them to remove him from everything. Maybe it was his request. Maybe they had such a fight that she (Elena Rybakina) approached the WTA and said to remove his name, that he was coaching her," he said.
"There were internal matters. This was during the US Open, I didn’t really want to write to him, because I thought I’d stay as realistic as possible and keep the attention on my people. If there’s no news, I’ll write to Stefano, ask how he is," he said.
He also said that whenever he saw Rybakina on tour, she would merely say that a low immune system is behind her struggles.
"We communicate well on the courts, but we don't go too far in personal matters. Injuries, for example, are not discussed. What has been happening in recent months - there's clearly something. If she wants, she'll talk about it," he said.
"Maybe motivation or health. When we met at tournaments, she might not feel so good. She would just say: "Immune system is low." Neither I nor anyone from the team knows. We didn't write to her personally, because we don't think it's quite right," he added.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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