Former Wimbledon champion and World No 6 Elena Rybakina has defended her former coach Stefano Vukov after he was previously suspended by the women’s tennis tour (WTA).
The Athletic reported on Thursday that Vukoc has been suspended by the WTA while it investigates a potential breach of its code of conduct, which means he is unable to receive accreditation for this month’s Australian Open.
Rybakina and Vukov ended their five-year partnership before last year’s US Open, with the 2022 Wimbledon champion then appointing Novak Djokovic’s former coach Goran Ivanisevic.
But Rybakina, 25, announced that Vukov would be rejoining her team earlier this week and said Vukov has “never mistreated me” while the WTA investigation into his behaviour continues.
Rybakina was speaking after playing for Kazakhstan in their semi-final defeat to Poland in the United Cup, ahead of the start of the Australian Open in Melbourne on 12 January.
“I said it already before that he never mistreated me or it was never anything like that," Rybakina said at the United Cup in Sydney.
“I’m working with Goran. I’m happy the way we’ve worked for a couple of weeks. Stefano is rejoining the team because I know the person for six years and there’s a lot of things we can do outside of the court too.
“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.”
Vukov told The Athletic that he “never abused anyone” while the WTA said he would not be eligible to get accredited for its tournaments. That includes the Australian Open, where Rybakina was a runner-up in 2023.
Vukov was Rybakina’s coach when she won Wimbledon in 2022 and reached No 3 in the world rankings. She struggled with illness and injury last season and missed several high-profile tournaments, including the Olympics.
