Elena Rybakina finally breaks silence on Stefano Vukov's shocking ban with strongly-worded defense of coach

Elena Rybakina is furious with the comments made about her coach, Stefano Vukov, in light of his WTA ban. The player recently issued a strongly worded statement defending the Croat.

Rybakina is presently in Sydney, where she represented Kazakhstan at the 2025 United Cup. The team crashed out of the tournament with a semifinal loss to Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz-led Poland on Saturday, January 4.

In the press conference following her 7-6 (5), 6-4 defeat to Swiatek, Elena Rybakina broke her silence on the news of her coach Stefano Vukov’s provisional suspension. On January 2, The Athletic reported that Vukov was barred from coaching by the WTA due to an ongoing investigation launched last year over a potential breach of the tour’s Code of Conduct.

According to the report, Vukov is being investigated after complaints were made about his “intense and at times harsh” conduct while coaching. Rybakina, who initially announced her split from Vukov in August 2024 and is presently traveling with her newly appointed coach, Goran Ivanisevic, 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," she clarified.

Elena Rybakina made it clear that she wasn’t happy with the situation and claimed that “active coaches” and “commentators” were seemingly drawing “unfair” conclusions about her partnership with Stefano Vukov.

"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," she said.

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Elena Rybakina on coach Stefano Vukov: "I have respect to him for everything he did"

Elena Rybakina and Stefano Vukov pictured at the 2023 French Open - Image Source: Getty

It is worth noting that Stefano Vukov initially denied claims of a WTA ban, according to tennis journalist Sofya Tartakova. The news of the suspension was forced into the spotlight on January 2, a day after Elena Rybakina controversially announced that she had rehired Stefano Vukov for the 2025 season.

The Croat, who has been with Rybakina since 2019, has reportedly traveled to Melbourne to support the 2022 Wimbledon champion at the Australian Open, albeit not in any official capacity considering he’s been stripped of his credentials.

Meanwhile, new coach Goran Ivanisevic is expected to continue training the tennis player during the Australian swing. Ivanisevic, known for his work with Novak Djokovic, joined the team in November 2024, a couple of months after Elena Rybakina confirmed her split from Vukov. The provisional suspension could potentially explain the reason for the sudden separation.

"I mean, I'm working with Goran. I'm happy the way we work now for the couple of weeks," Elena Rybakina said about the partnership in the aforementioned press conference.

"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," she added.

Elena Rybakina reiterated that Vukov “never mistreated” her. She also highlighted her accomplishments under his guidance, which include a title at Wimbledon, a final at the 2023 Australian Open, and a career-high ranking of World No. 3, among others. The 25-year-old indicated that not many player-coach relationships have been as successful as hers with Vukov.

"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, like, I don't know," she said.

"You can 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."

Rybakina is soon expected to travel to Melbourne with her team to prepare for the Australian Open.