Elena Rybakina’s new coach reveals Stefano Vukov ‘will always be there’ and outlines his big goals
Elena Rybakina’s new coach Davide Sanguinetti has proclaimed that Stefano Vukov will always be part of the Kazakh’s team because the pair are “close.”
The Italian also asserted that he thinks Rybakina “should have won more” Grand Slam titles as he revealed the ambitious goals he has for the 2022 Wimbledon winner.
Rybakina added Sanguinetti to her team ahead of the Abu Dhabi Open in the absence of Vukov, who remains suspended pending a WTA investigation.
The Russian-born star, who represents Kazakhstan, parted ways with Vukov in August last year having worked with the Croatian since 2019.
The world No 5 hired Novak Djokovic’s former coach Goran Ivanisevic at the end of the 2024 campaign, before divulging on January 1 that Vukov would be re-joining her team.
The day after Rybakina’s surprise announcement, The Athletic reported that Vukov had been suspended by the WTA Tour amid an investigation into a breach of their code of conduct.
Vukov did not receive accreditation for the Australian Open, with Tennis Australia upholding the WTA’s provisional suspension. The WTA is yet to announce the outcome of the investigation.
Ivanisevic worked with Rybakina at the Australian Open, but the 2001 Wimbledon champion announced the pair’s “trial” collaboration had ended after the tournament.
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In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Sanguinetti spoke about his partnership with Rybakina and highlighted the need to solve the 25-year-old’s physical issues after a health-affected 2024 season.
“It’s a new adventure that I’m taking on with a lot of passion and desire to do well, there’s more pressure because you have to win, but I really like this,” he declared.
“I come from a positive experience with [Brandon] Nakashima, who went from being number 160 to 35: one door closes and another opens, let’s see how I get in.
“We already knew each other, we talked, she’s a player I really like: I’ve always been fascinated by her game. In my opinion, she should have won more, especially at Slam level: someone like her can’t be satisfied with winning Wimbledon in 2022.
“We trained for a week in Dubai, I expected her to be like this: calm and relaxed. She listens a lot, tries to put into practice what she is told. There is a good predisposition, even if clearly there is a lot of work to do physically after last year’s problems.
“And in Australia she also had some difficulties: she reached the eighth finals against Madison Keys despite back problems, the physiotherapist worked a miracle in managing to get her to play. And she almost won against the future champion.
“She can still grow physically and can acquire more speed. She must try to be more aggressive, go further to the net, there are many routes and shots that can still be improved. In tennis at that level there are many small details, even of a tactical nature.”
The former world No 42 explained he is in regular communication with Vukov and played down concerns about the dynamic of Rybakina having two coaches.
“Vukov and Elena are close, he will always be there,” Sanguinetti said.
“Stefano and I talk a lot, we are on the same wavelength. It’s not a problem to have two coaches, it’s almost a trend now.”
Asked if he has set any goals for Rybakina, Sanguinetti added: “We are not looking at the ranking, but the goal is to win another Slam: the ranking then comes as a consequence.
“Once you have won a major, maybe this year, you can aim to become number 1 in 2026: that’s the dream…”
Sanguinetti has previously coached former WTA world No 1 Dinara Safina and former ATP pros Vince Spadea and Go Soeda, while his most recent charge was 23-year-old American Nakashima.
Rybakina defeated Ons Jabeur 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(4) in the quarter-finals of the Abu Dhabi Open. The top seed and defending champion will face Belinda Bencic in the last four at the WTA 500 event.
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