Elena Rybakina’s new coach gives honest verdict on whether it’s ‘problem’ to work with banned coach Stefano Vukov
World No.5 Elena Rybakina re-hired controversial coach Stefano Vukov after ending her partnership with him last year.
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Stefano Vukov, Elena Rybakina (Images via WTA, X)
Elena Rybakina would want to move on from the ‘coaching’ controversy to focus on the tournaments she is playing. She is in Abu Dhabi for the season’s fourth WTA 500 event and has made it to the quarterfinals.
Rybakina, after ending her five-year partnership with coach Stefano Vukov last year, hired Novak Djokovic‘s former coach Goran Ivanisevic. But the partnership with Ivanisevic didn’t last for long, as after re-hiring Vukov, Ivanisevic left her team.
Vukov is currently facing a provisional suspension for allegedly breaching WTA Code of Conduct as he was accused of bad behavior toward the Kazakh ace. Rybakina has always defended Vukov and as he currently can’t coach her, she added Davide Sanguinetti to her coaching team. Sanguinetti, a former player from Italy gave his verdict on a player having two coaches.
Vukov will always be there, he and Elena are close. Stefano and I talk a lot, we are on the same wavelength, it’s not a problem to have two coaches, it’s almost a trend now.
Davide Sanguinetti told La Gazzetta dello Sport
It’s not known for how long Vukov will be suspended. The WTA also chose not to reveal details about his conduct as the investigation is currently underway.
Davide Sanguinetti reveals Elena Rybakina’s physio worked a miracle at Australian Open
During the aforementioned interview, Davide Sanguinetti also revealed how Elena Rybakina‘s physio helped her to continue her Australian Open campaign. The 25-year-old suffered from back problems during her third-round clash with Dayana Yastremska, following which, eventual champion Madison Keys knocked her out of the tournament in the next round in three sets.
In Australia, she also had some difficulties, she reached the [fourth round] against Madison keys despite back problems. The physiotherapist worked a miracle in managing to get her to play, and she almost won against the future champion.
Davide Sanguinetti said
Rybakina was the runner-up at the 2023 Australian Open, losing the final to current World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka who faced a three-set defeat in the final to Keys in this year’s event at Melbourne Park. Sanguinetti thinks a talented player like Rybakina should win more than one Grand Slam title. Rybakina lifted the 2022 Wimbledon trophy with a three-set win over Ons Jabeur in the final.
The Tunisian ace is Rybakina’s opponent in the quarterfinal of the ongoing Abu Dhabi Open. Rybakina fended off America’s Katie Volynets in three sets before setting up the clash with the three-time Grand Slam finalist. She has faced Jabeur five times and is 2-3 in the head-to-head meetings.
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Gouri Das
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