Tennis Controversies of the Week: Novak Djokovic-led PTPA under fire over "unprofessional" comments in Jannik Sinner's case; Elena Rybakina's coach Stefano Vukov faces fierce backlash, and more

This past week, the tennis community was abuzz with plenty of controversial events. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner's three-month ban over his doping scandal sent shockwaves for various reasons. The Novak Djokovic-helmed Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) issued a statement that kicked up a storm.

Elena Rybakina's coach, Stefano Vukov, received a year-long ban for his unprofessional conduct, and Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs felt that was a lenient sentence. Emma Raducanu received yet another wildcard, giving rise to another round of discourse.

Rafael Nadal sold nearly half of his stake in his academy for an insane amount of money, a move that was dubbed as greedy. Taylor Fritz was castigated for his support of the new mixed doubles format at the US Open. On that note, here's a quick recap of the most controversial moments of the week gone by:

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#1. Elena Rybakina's coach Stefano Vukov draws Rennae Stubbs' ire

Elena Rybakina at the Qatar Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

The WTA recently banned Rybakina's coach Vukov for a year after concluding their investigation into him. With allegations of mental abuse among other things, the matter was quite serious, and the WTA did find some credible evidence to impose the ban.

Serena Williams' ex-coach, Stubbs, felt that Vukov got off lightly. She has been quite vocal about the whole affair and has criticized him in the past. She expressed her thoughts on the matter in the latest episode of her podcast. She also backed up her claims by citing the departure of Rybakina's fitness trainer, and Goran Ivanisevic, who coached her until last month's Australian Open.

"Look, some of us know a lot more than others. I clearly was around this toxic environment with him and her quite often. I have spoken about it many times and you know people did say that it's her decision. Yes, it is her decision but you know there are a lot of cohesive controlled relationships that get really toxic and really bad and do I think that she is in an environment that is not healthy for her? absolutely! There's no question about it," she said, in a recent episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.

"You don't see her coach Goran Ivanisevic decide after this time, even though he enjoyed working with her, 'I'm outta here' because he's clearly saying stuff that he's not okay with the two. But also the fitness trainer, you know who's been there for a long long time... And he's gone as well," Stubbs added.

Rybakina, meanwhile, expressed her disappointment following Vukov's ban. She's competing at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she could face Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.

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#2. Novak Djokovic led PTPA's statement on Jannik Sinner's doping ban deemed unprofessional

Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Sinner's doping saga concluded over the weekend after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that he would serve a three-month ban. It was revealed in August 2024 that he had tested positive for the banned substance Clostebol.

While the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) gave him the go-ahead to compete, WADA challenged that decision, and the matter has now come to an end. The news of Sinner's ban has divided the tennis community, and the Djokovic-led Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) also had to say something about it.

"The "system" is not a system. It's a club. Supposed case-by-case discretion is, in fact, merely cover for tailored deals, unfair treatment, and inconsistent rulings. It's not just the different results for different players. It's the lack of transparency . The lack of process. The lack of consistency. This bias is unacceptable for all athletes," the PTPA statement read.

Fans weren't too pleased with the statement and felt that it crossed the limits of professionalism. Sinner's ban will end on May 4, 2025, and he will be eligible to compete at the Italian Open and the tournaments after that.

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#3. Emma Raducanu faces flak for yet another wildcard

Emma Raducanu at the Dubai Tennis Championships. (Photo: Getty)

Raducanu received a main draw wildcard for this week's Dubai Tennis Championships, which kicked off a wave of criticism from the fans. Given her form prior to the tournament, they deemed her unworthy. The Brit accepted wildcards to participate in the Abu Dhabi Open and Qatar Open over the past two weeks and bowed out in the first round.

Raducanu's wildcard entry into Dubai was the 11th such instance since the start of 2024. However, since she was making a comeback from a long injury hiatus last year, people didn't bat an eye. However, now that she's firmly inside the top 60, fans felt the need for a wildcard was unnecessary, and that she could try to qualify for the tournament on her own merit.

Fans drew comparisons to Raducanu's compatriot Andy Murray, who received plenty of wildcards in the latter part of his career. Regardless of the situation, the young Brit finally snapped her four-match losing skid in Dubai and beat Maria Sakkari in her opener to advance to the second round.

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#4. Rafael Nadal's sale of his stake in his Academy raises eyebrows

Rafael Nadal at the Davis Cup 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Nadal sold 44.9% of his stake in the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy to an investment group GPF for a whopping $100 million in profit. The academy, which was established in October 2016, helped many budding tennis stars achieve their dreams, including Casper Ruud. The Spaniard also reportedly signed a deal worth $750 million to become an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation a year ago.

This latest instance of a cash grab by Nadal didn't go down well with the fans. Some felt that if Djokovic had done the same, he would've received a ton of backlash. Others had a more pragmatic view and weren't as bothered by the deal.

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#5. Taylor Fritz slammed for his support of the new mixed doubles format at the US Open

Taylor Fritz at the Dallas Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

The US Open recently announced some big changes to the mixed doubles format starting from this year. The revamped version of the event would feature only 16 teams instead of the current 32 teams, with half of them being wildcard entries. The new format was designed to attract more singles players and would take place during the fan week.

Since this was done without any consultation with the doubles specialists, the move was criticized by them. However, Fritz came out in support of the changes and stated that he would participate in this version of mixed doubles.

"Yeah, I think there's a very good chance that I'll play the mixed doubles competition. Honestly, it falls at a good time. I think that it's going to be really exciting," Taylor Fritz said. "I think a lot of people are going to be excited about it, and I genuinely love playing mixed doubles, so I think there's a good chance I'll play it."

Fritz landed in hot waters for his opinion. Fans felt that he and other singles pros would eat up the share of prize money of the doubles players, who don't make as much money as the singles players. The Australian Open, meanwhile, announced that it had no plans to change the mixed doubles format in the wake of this controversy.