Elena Rybakina's 'concerning' relationship with Stefano Vukov led to dire WTA monitoring tactics, exposes tennis insider

WTA star Elena Rybakina entered the 2025 season with a pack of controversies. Amid the ongoing debate about WTA's decision to impose a ban on her coach Stefano Vukov, a tennis journalist exposed the hidden tactics used by the authority to investigate the matter. The statement poised to answer all the accusations of a baseless decision by the WTA.

On 3rd January 2025, the WTA officially announced their decision to provisionally suspend Stefano Vukov amid the ongoing investigation about his behavior towards the player. Although Rybakina stepped forward to defend the Croatian mentor with a backing statement, the controversy still doesn't appear to be solved.

In a recent episode of the Served With Andy Roddick Podcast by Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick, renowned journalist Jon Wertheim shared insider details about the matter.

"It has been an open secret that this has been an aggressive coach I've heard from other players, i mean this is dating back, multiple years. I've heard that at one point the WTA sometimes have had planted employees in the stands to sort of get a glimpse of this relationship first hand during matches," he said (from 31:00 minutes).

Wertheim also highlighted the fact that the case, regardless of any evidence, has been a major concern discussed among renowned figures of the tennis community.

"It was concerning to a number of people in the sport, some being Pam Shriver, is someone who has been open and vocal about this. At some point last year, a complaint was launched, i heard it was before the US Open, unclear who launched this complaint against the coach," Wertheim added.

This came in regard to the uncertainty about the Croatian coach being guilty. Vukov himself stepped forward to mention that he "never abused anyone" but the comments from the insider directly contradict his plea. According to the latest update, the WTA has denied releasing any more details about the investigation yet but is clear about keeping him away from coaching the Kazakh for a while now.

Serena Williams' ex-coach highlights Elena Rybakina's struggles with Stefano Vukov

Rybakina at the 2025 United Cup (Image Source: Getty)

Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs couldn't hold back from addressing the issues revolving Elena Rybakina. Firmly siding with the WTA's decision to ban her coach Stefano Vukov, the renowned mentor stated her POV on how she thinks the Kazakh might have struggled having the Croatian coach around.

In a conversation with Caitlin Thompson at the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, the ex-pro criticised their relationship, calling it as "dysfunctional".

"Clearly she is struggling with this relationship with him, whatever that may be…If you want to be in this dysfunctional relationship, that’s up on you, but for someone like Goran, he’s not gonna stick around that and the WTA are putting their foot down," she said.

Elena Rybakina started her 2025 season at the United Cup and won her first three singles matches, as Kazakhstan reached the semifinals of the tournament, where they lost to Poland. The World No. 6 is next scheduled to compete at the Australian Open.