Elena Rybakina’s short reply when asked about Stefano Vukov being back in her box
Elena Rybakina’s return to form has been marked by Stefano Vukov’s comeback to the WTA Tour and she gave a two-sentence reply when asked about his presence in her player’s box.
The past 12 months have been a rollercoaster for Rybakina and Vukov as they parted ways shortly before the 2024 US Open with that decision coming on the back of the latter coming under fire from several role players in the tennis community for the way he treated the 2022 Wimbledon champion during matches and in training.
Former doubles world No 1 Pam Shriver, in particular, was outraged during the 2023 Australian Open as she tweeted: “As I watch Rybakina try to win her second major in 7 months, I hope she finds a coach who speaks and treats her with respect at ALL times and does not ever accept anything less.”
But Rybakina defended Vukov at the time before they finally went their separate ways in August 2024, but that was only the start of a dramatic few months as the WTA then announced the Croatian was removed from tennis’ official coaching list and banned from attending Tour events as he was under investigation for allegedly breaching the WTA’s Code of Conduct.
The Kazakh player hired Goran Ivanisevic ahead of the 2025 season, but she then announced in January that Vukov had rejoined her coaching team and not long after Ivanisevic left the set-up.
In February, the WTA announced that it had concluded its investigation and Vukov would remain banned with several reports detailing the level of abuse as he was reported to call Rybakina “stupid” and “made Rybakina cry, subjected the 25-year-old to mental abuse and pushed her beyond her physical limits, which caused her to become ill”.
Rybakina, though, stuck to her guns and denied those reports and she continued to work with Vukov away from officially sanctioned events.
At the beginning of August this year, the WTA revealed that Vukov had been cleared to return to the Tour after successfully appealing his suspension and his first tournament back Rybakina’s box was the Cincinnati Open as he teamed up with Davide Sanguinetti.
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With Vukov by her side, Rybakina has looked like the player who won Wimbledon in 2022 as she beat sixth seed Madison Keys in the fourth round and then brushed aside world No 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the 6-1, 6-4 in the quarter-final.
When she was asked about Vukov’s presence after the Sabalenka win, Rybakina replied: “It’s great that he’s here in the box. It’s always a help when the full team is here with me.”
Up next is Iga Swiatek for a place in the final and the ninth seed is determined to produce another good performance against a player known for her movement on court.
Swiatek leads their head-to-head 5-4 after winning their three most recent encounters.
“She’s a great player with such a high intensity on the court,” the Kazakh player said of the Pole. “She moves really well. It’s never easy to play against her. She also serves well, especially here.
“I think the conditions are pretty tough. The ball is flying a lot. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll try to do my best, to focus on myself.”
