Elena Rybakina’s Childhood Coach Reveals Stefano Vukov’s Concerns Over the World No.3 Reconnecting with her Past

Stefano Vukov has been instrumental in Elena Rybakina's rise on tour.

Elena Rybakina’s Childhood Coach Reveals Stefano Vukov’s Concerns Over the World No.3 Reconnecting with her Past

Stefano Vukov, Elena Rybakina (Images via X)

In Short
  • Stefano Vukov expressed concerns about Elena Rybakina potentially leaving him to reconnect with her childhood coach, Evgenia Kulikovskaya.
  • Rybakina's performance improved significantly after partnering with Vukov in 2019, leading to her first WTA title and multiple finals.
  • Vukov faced a suspension due to allegations of abusive behavior but returned to coach Rybakina, who defended him during the investigation.

Elena Rybakina’s childhood coach Evgenia Kulikovskaya has opened up on Stefano Vukov’s concern that the Kazakhstan star might leave her just a few months after working together. Vukov became Rybakina’s coach in 2019, just months after Kulikovskaya left her team, just after she switched national allegiance.

Kulikovskaya played as a professional player between 1994 and 2004, managing to win just eight ITF titles and appearing in the main draw of all four Grand Slams. She achieved a career-high ranking of World No.91, but she ended her career relatively early at just 26 years old and decided to help young tennis players.

The Russian switched to coaching kids in Moscow, and Rybakina, who was born in the Russian capital in 1999, was one of her first students. She worked with Rybakina for years, implementing a good foundation in her game and mentoring her until 2018, the same year, Rybakina switched from Russia to Kazakhstan.

Though Rybakina was playing well, results were a major problem in her career, which led her to partner with Vukov in 2019. Months after they began working together, Rybakina began to have consistent victories on the court. She won her maiden WTA title at the Bucharest Open in 2019 before reaching four finals in her first five events in 2020.

During a short break from the tour, Rybakina decided to return to Moscow to visit her childhood coach, Kulikovskaya. In an interview with Championat, Kulikovskaya revealed that Vukov was afraid that Rybakina was going to split with him and return to her childhood coach. She added that Vukov’s manner of coaching was completely different from hers, which Rybakina was not used to at that time:

At first, Stefano was against it. He was very worried that now that she had started getting good results, someone might want to take her away. Later the two of them came to us together for a training session in Moscow, and Stefano and I had a talk. When he realized that I wasn’t thinking of taking Lena back or interfering in the training process, he calmed down… I don’t talk much, while Stefano talks a lot. So it took Lena some time to get used to him.

Vukov has been instrumental in Rybakina’s rise on the court. When he was suspended for months last year, there was a noticeable decline in her performance, and since he returned to her team, she has won three titles. In fact, she claimed her second Grand Slam at the just-concluded Australian Open.

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Elena Rybakina’s partnership with Stefano Vukov since August 2024

Elena Rybakina is now one of the best and most successful women’s players on tour. The Kazakhstan star is a two-time Grand Slam champion and currently sits at a career-high ranking of World No.3 on the WTA rankings. She has won 12 tour-level titles in her career, and she’s the reigning champion of the WTA Finals.

Elena Rybakina, Stefano Vukov
Elena Rybakina and Stefano Vukov (Image via X/Jose Moron)

However, she parted ways with her coach Stefano Vukov before the 2024 US Open, but decided to bring him back to the team in January 2025. But during the period of their split, there were reports that Vukov showed abusive behavior and abuse of authority while working with the 26-year-old on tour.

The allegations led the WTA to investigate the matter and later ascertained that the Croatian coach breached the tour’s Code of Conduct and was provisionally suspended for months. He later won an appeal and returned to coaching Rybakina full-time in August 2025 and has since overseen her success on the court.

Nonetheless, during Vukov’s absence from Rybakina’s team, the Kazakhstan star always declared that the allegations brought against the Croatian coach were unfounded. She questioned that the people advocating for the full suspension of Vukov on tour have never met her to discuss whether he has committed the offense.

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