Elena Rybakina insists Stefano Vukov ‘never mistreated me’ as she speaks out on WTA investigation
Elena Rybakina claimed that coach Stefano Vukov “never mistreated me” as she continued to defend the Croatian amid a WTA investigation.
Reporting from The Athletic on Thursday revealed that Vukov, who was Rybakina’s primary coach from 2019-24, was suspended by the WTA amid an investigation into a breach of their code of conduct.
The news emerged just a day after world No. 6 Rybakina confirmed in a short statement that Vukov would return to her team after parting ways in August 2024.
Since splitting with her long-time coach, the Kazakh has begun working with Goran Ivanisevic, who will be her primary coach for the Australian Open.
Vukov will not receive any accreditation for the first Grand Slam of 2025, with Tennis Australia upholding the WTA’s provisional suspension.
Asked about the investigation following her United Cup loss to Iga Swiatek, Rybakina clarified that Ivanisevic remained her main coach but denied any wrongdoing by Vukov toward her.
She said: “Well, I’m working with Goran, and these articles came out, I mean, I can only say and I said it already before that he never mistreated me or it was never anything like that.
“I mean, I’m working with Goran. I’m happy the way we work now for the couple of weeks. As I also said, that Stefano 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 200 all the way what we did.
“You can [try to] name me other coaches who had the same success with players who have been 200 and then winning Grand Slam and being in the top.”
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Rybakina will next be in action at the Australian Open after Poland beat Kazakhstan in the United Cup semi-finals.
After three previous singles wins, the 25-year-old was defeated 7-6(5), 6-4 by world No 2 Swiatek, while Hubert Hurkacz saw off Alexander Shevchenko in the men’s singles rubber.
A former Australian Open finalist and the 2022 Wimbledon champion, the world No 6 will be among the title favourites at Melbourne Park when the tournament starts on January 12th.
Vukov is yet to comment publicly on the investigation into his behaviour, though the WTA statement revealed that he would not be allowed accreditation for any WTA event while it was ongoing.
It said: “The WTA can confirm that Stefano Vukov is currently under a provisional suspension pending an independent investigation into a potential breach of the WTA Code of Conduct.
“As part of the provisional suspension, Mr. Vukov is not eligible to obtain a WTA credential at this time.
“While the WTA does not typically comment on active investigations, we believe it is necessary to clarify this matter due to recent public statements that misrepresent the situation. We will not provide further details at this point in time.”
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