Stefano Vukov is under WTA investigation, just hours after he came back on Elena Rybakina’s team: a news that could now change the Kazakh’s plans, in view of the season that has just begun.
A news that was confirmed by the WTA with an official note.
“It can be confirmed that Vukov is currently provisionally suspended pending an independent investigation into a potential violation of the WTA Code of Conduct. Therefore, he is not eligible to obtain a WTA credential at this time. The WTA does not typically comment on active investigations, but we believe it is necessary to clarify this matter due to recent public statements that misrepresent the situation. We will not be providing further details at this time,” wrote the Women Tennis Association.
The statement from the authority representing the players said that the Croatian coach will not be accredited for the 2025 Australian Open – despite his intention to fly to Melbourne – and will not be able to participate in Rybakina’s matches and training sessions.
Elena Rybakina, Goran Ivanisevic, Stefan Duell© Stefan Duell/X – Fair Use
The investigation began following a series of complaints to the WTA about some of Vukov’s behavior toward his athlete. From Russia, the well-known and experienced journalist Sonya Tartakova had highlighted what was happening, given that Rybakina had not taken the court since the US Open before participating in the Finals in Saudi Arabia in November. And the many forfeits in tournaments during the year had seemed strange, on the surface.
“She is very stressed, it is something psychosomatic. She is in a chaotic moment, in a completely disorganized state, she cannot play. Vukov was constantly eating her, as people around Elena said. Her parents defended her, because she could not get out of that vicious circle. There was pressure, insults, nastiness, words that constantly came out of Stefano’s lips,” were the strong statements released by the journalist.
According to The Athletic, the Kazakh was never able to completely separate from her coach and continued to communicate constantly with him, speaking before and after matches. A scenario that is not known to Ivanisevic. Rybakina would have denied and denied every type of accusation that emerged, thus trying to exonerate Vukov to make him return to the team immediately. According to reports, the tennis player should be questioned on Saturday, January 4, the day she will take to the court wearing the Kazakhstan jersey in the United Cup semifinal (she will challenge world number two Iga Swiatek).
Through an Instagram story, it was Elena herself – quite surprising the tennis world and her fans – who announced the reinstatement of her former coach. The reason – as mentioned – concerns some rumors that have circulated in recent months about the troubled relationship and the coach’s working method with the Kazakh.
Tennis World USA