Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs heartbroken by Elena Rybakina & Goran Ivanisevic's split

Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs shared her thoughts over the coaching split of Elena Rybakina and Goran Ivanisevic. The pair split following the Kazakh's exit from the fourth round of the 2025 Australian Open.

Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champion who coached Novak Djokovic to 12 Grand Slam titles, announced the end of his coaching stint with Rybakina via an Instagram story on Tuesday.

"After our trial period that finished with the Australian Open, I wish Elena and her team best of luck moving forward," he wrote.

The pair started working together on a trial basis in December 2024. With the Kazakh announcing her intentions to get back with her former coach Stefano Vukov earlier this month, the split did not come as a surprise. However, Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs, who has been critical of Vukov's coaching, was disappointed about the split.

"This is so disappointing and sad," the Aussie coach commented.

Rennae Stubbs' comment

Rybakina racked up three impressive victories, all in straight sets, before falling to Madison Keys in the fourth round on Monday, January 20. The 2023 Australian Open runner-up suggested after the loss that she wanted to have Vukov on her coaching team.

"As I said before, this is not the situation I want to be in. Of course, I wanted to have who I wanted to have in the box, but I couldn't change it and at the end of the day I just tried to focus on my matches and I spoke with him (Vukov). I also have Goran, so it didn't affect the way I played today or any of the results," she said [as quoted by Yard Barker].

Vukov is under provisional suspension from WTA over his conduct towards players and while Rybakina claimed she hadn't made any complaints against the coach, Rennae Stubbs believes the Croatian wasn't a positive influence on the 2022 Wimbledon champion.

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"When she would win matches, he was giving her sh*t" - Rennae Stubbs on Elena Rybakina and Stefano Vukov

French Open Tennis Tournament. Roland-Garros 2024. - Elena Rybakina with ex-coach Stefano Vukov - Source: Getty

Speaking during an episode of the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast in October 2024, the Australian coach claimed that Stefano Vukov wasn't a positive influence around Elena Rybakina and would yell at her despite winning matches.

"Now, off the court, in a way he might be the greatest guy in the world to her, I don’t know. But when it comes to being her coach, I saw way too many things of him yelling at her in the gym, other players have said stuff to me. When she would win matches, he was giving her sh*t," she said.

"This is what other people saw. There's 25 other people that could see the same thing I was seeing," she added.

Stubbs' remarks came after tennis journalist Sonya Tartakova claimed that Vukov subjected Elena Rybakina to "pressure, insults, and bad words". However, the 25-year-old has denied the allegations, saying that Vukov "never mistreated" her.