Elena Rybakina’s hunt for her second Grand Slam title will continue at the 2025 US Open. The former Italian player Davide Sanguinetti is her official coach for the Major.
However, her former coach Stefano Vukov is also on the team and has been working with her since the Cincinnati Open earlier this month. Rybakina and Vukov’s partnership began in 2019 when she had yet to break into the top 100. Under the Croatian’s tutelage, she won the 2022 Wimbledon and broke into the top 10 of the WTA rankings.
Days before the 2024 US Open, the Kazakh decided to part ways with Vukov, prompting him to allegedly spam her phone with messages and calls to get his job back. A few members of Elena Rybakina’s team complained to the WTA about her former coach’s actions.
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Ahead of this year's Australian Open, the WTA provisionally suspended Vukov for allegedly breaching its code of conduct. It was announced that until the investigation was over, the Croatian would not receive accreditation or be allowed in the player's box during tournaments. Vukov maintained his innocence, and Rybakina repeatedly defended him, saying he never ill-treated her.
In June, the Croat appealed his year-long ban, which was lifted on August 8. After she beat World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals, Rybakina was asked about Vukov rejoining her team. She said (via The Guardian):
“It’s great that he’s here in the box. It’s always a help when the full team is here with me.”
Rybakina hired Novak Djokovic's former coach, Goran Ivanisevic, last December, though they split up after her fourth-round exit in Melbourne. Davide Sanguinetti was roped in in February.
What did Elena Rybakina say about WTA's suspension of Stefano Vukov?
Concerns about Stefano Vukov's alleged behavior toward Elena Rybakina are not new. At the 2023 Australian Open, he was seen yelling at the Kazakh during her semifinal clash against Victoria Azarenka. Former player Pam Shriver had even urged the player to get rid of him.
After Vukov's suspension in January, Rybakina expressed her displeasure with the WTA's decision, saying she never complained about her former coach.
“I don’t agree with a lot of things what the WTA do in the sense of my relationship with Stefano. As I said before, I have never made any complaints or any of these things. I always said that he never mistreated me," Rybakina said (via The Guardian).
The World No. 10 has a 41-16 win-loss record this year. Her only title came at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, a WTA 500 event, in May. She will begin her US Open campaign against the 16-year-old local, Julieta Pareja, on Monday, August 25.
