Elena Rybakina warned Goran Ivanisevic ‘won’t stand for’ her ‘dysfunctional relationship’ with Stefano Vukov
Elena Rybakina has been told that her coach Goran Ivanisevic is “not going to stand for” her “dysfunctional relationship” with Stefano Vukov by former doubles world No 1 Rennae Stubbs.
The Athletic reported last week that Vukov, who was Rybakina’s coach from 2019 to 2024, had been suspended by the WTA amid an investigation into a breach of their code of conduct.
The news emerged the day after Rybakina confirmed Vukov would be making a shock return to her team just months after she split with the Croatian in August 2024.
After parting ways with Vukov, Rybakina appointed Ivanisevic as her head coach at the end of the 2024 season.
Ivanisevic, who is working with the world No 6 ahead the Australian Open, was “blindsided” by the announcement of Vukov’s return, according to The Athletic’s the report.
Vukov will not receive any accreditation for the year’s first Grand Slam in Melbourne, which begins on Sunday, with Tennis Australia upholding the WTA’s provisional suspension.
Speaking on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Stubbs suggested that Vukov’s return may not only be Rybakina’s decision, while warning that the relationship could cause Ivanisevic to depart.
“It is not necessarily just her decision,” the Australian said. “If the WTA feels like, and clearly they have evidence… they’ve obviously done years of investigation into this man’s behaviour, they’ve obviously interviewed many, many, many people. Not just one or two.
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“Who knows what’s going on with the family, maybe the family don’t want him around, maybe the family are trying to excavate him from her life as well.
“Clearly she is struggling with this relationship with him, whatever that may be, and wanting to bring him back.
“I can tell you right now, Goran’s not going to stand for it, Goran’s not gonna be around somebody who’s going to be… absolutely not.
“If you want to be in a dysfunctional relationship, that’s on you, but for someone like Goran, he’s not going to stick around for that.”
Stubbs, a former coach of tennis icon Serena Williams, revealed she has been told by players about Vukov’s behaviour and the way the coach speaks about Rybakina.
“The WTA are putting their foot down, there’s been silent bans or bans of other people over the last couple years that we haven’t necessarily known about in the public,” she continued.
“The WTA have put down their foot down and said, ‘This is not behaviour that is allowed on our tour. There’s certain criteria that you have to adhere to be able to play on our tour or to be able to coach on our tour.’
“And if there is a pattern that has been happening (with Vukov) for years that the WTA have documented, that’s why they’ve banned him.
“This is not just on a whim, ‘Oh we don’t like him, his attitude towards her is not good in the stands.’ No, no, no. This is an ongoing, consistent behaviour.
“Even for me over the last week, being here in Adelaide and hearing this news, the amount of players that come up to me and be like, ‘Oh my god, you should hear the way he talks about her. You should hear the way he speaks about her.’
“Just to other friends, just to other coaches. So, that in and of itself, the behaviour, the way he speaks about her, it’s not okay. And that’s what other players hear and tell me.
“So, there’s a long list of people that could say thins about this guy and so, I feel terrible for her because she’s clearly put into this quandary. It’s a shame because she’s a great, great, great girl. She’s a great player.”
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