Elena Rybakina has once again made it perfectly clear that she is not happy with the Stefano Vukov situation, saying that the WTA “hasn’t handled well” the process and also claiming that her voice hasn’t been heard.
At this week’s WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi, the Kazakh tennis star arrived with new coach Davide Sanguinetti, who is replacing Goran Ivanisevic in the team.
While the world No. 5 won’t be without a coach in her first post-Australian Open event, she remains frustrated with the fact that the WTA’s investigation into Vukov possibly breaching their conduct policy still hasn’t been concluded.
As long as the investigation is ongoing, the 37-year-old Croatian coach can’t join Rybakina on the practice courts, locker room, or sit in her box during matches.
Over the last few weeks, the 25-year-old has repeated several times that it’s not true what has been said about their partnership and also called out certain players but also media for making those claims about Vukov.
“I don’t know much. It’s a situation I’m not happy with. But it is what it is but for now I don’t know much,” the 2022 Wimbledon winner told Reem Abulleil of AFP.
“Safeguarding is important but the case with what happened with us I don’t think it was handled well.”
Elena Rybakina has added Davide Sanguinetti to her coaching staff.
He is with her here in Abu Dhabi and in communication with Stefano Vukov, who is still provisionally suspended by the WTA as they investigate alleged breach of Code of Conduct. pic.twitter.com/qVnlYES1NB
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) February 2, 2025
Rybakina explains what happened with Vukov
Before abruptly splitting with the Croatian coach just before the start of the 2024 US Open, the two worked together for five years.
In the aftermath of the split, there were reports claiming that the 25-year-old was verbally abused.
However, the Kazakh has strongly denied it since Day 1, as well as Vukov.
When asked why she decided to return the Croatian to her team, Rybakina pretty much said that it didn’t take long before she realized that he was the perfect coach for her.
“We just sat down, we talked, and we decided to go our separate ways. But I learnt a lot and it’s not easy to find a good collaboration,” the former world No. 3 said.
“It of course takes time and everything but that was our decision. We’ll see how this year goes for me. I’m also not such an easy player maybe like some people think, ‘Oh it’s easy with her’, or something, but it’s not really like this.”
In the same interview, Rybakina told the WTA that “you need to listen to the player” – and her position in this situation is clear.
Tennis World USA