Rybakina speaks out on controversy with Vukov: "He has never mistreated me"

It seemed like everything was back to peace both on the circuit and on social media with the recent addition of Goran Ivanisevic as coach of Elena Rybakina, but this new year has already brought the first major controversy in the tennis world. There have been many rumors in recent months about his figure, and the fact that the Kazakh no longer had Stefano Vukov suggested that perhaps the relationship had not been optimal between the coach and the player. The surprise came when, a few days after the start of the season, Rybakina confirmed that Vukov would be back to be part of her team.

Even the WTA has spoken out on the issue, suspending him temporarily as he is under investigation for breaking the Code of Conduct. Once again, Elena has made her point of view clear on this whole situation: "I am working with Goran, and these articles came out, I can only say, and I've said before, that he never mistreated me or was never anything like that," said the Kazakh after losing in the semifinals of the United Cup 2025.

An "unfair" battle

"I'm working with Goran. I'm happy with how we work now for a couple of weeks. As I also said, Stefano is rejoining the team because I've known him for six years, and there are many things we can do off the court as well. Of course, I'm not very happy with the situation. I'm not happy with the comments I see, especially from people on the circuit: active coaches, commentators. I don't think it's fair."

Defense for Vukov

"All I can say is that he never mistreated me. I respect him for everything he did, from the beginning when I was 20, to what we did, I don't know. You can name me other coaches who have had the same success with players who were 200th and then won Grand Slams and were at the top."

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Rybakina se pronuncia sobre la polémica con Vukov: "Nunca me ha maltratado"