“This is So Sad”- Fans React as Elena Rybakina Fires Davide Sanguinetti After Reunion with Controversial Coach Stefano Vukov

Elena Rybakina ended her partnership with a coach for the second time this year after re-hiring Stefano Vukov.

“This is So Sad”- Fans React as Elena Rybakina Fires Davide Sanguinetti After Reunion with Controversial Coach Stefano Vukov

Elena Rybakina will only work with Stefano Vukov as Davide Sanguinetti is no longer a part of her team (Image via Tennis Temple, X/The Tennis Letter)

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Elena Rybakina is no longer working with coach Davide Sanguinetti. The only coach with whom she will be working is Stefano Vukov.

According to Spazio Tennis, Rybakina decided to part ways with Sanguinetti right after her US Open exit. Vukov joined the Kazakh ace’s team after the WTA lifted the ban on him.

Earlier this season, the WTA, after investigation, slapped a one-year ban on Vukov, accusing him of badly treating Rybakina. As per WTA’s report, the Croatian coach harassed and engaged in abusive behavior toward her protege.

Rybakina, however, always maintained that Vukov had never treated her badly, even though reports emerged that she had requested him to give her space, but he instead kept harassing her. Those reports claimed Vukov, while coaching her, called Rybakina ‘stupid’, and that she would still be ‘picking potatoes’ in Russia without his help. Her mother also wrote an email to Vukov, pleading with him not to make her daughter cry again.

Vukov appealed to the WTA, and his ban was lifted earlier in August. Rybakina worked with the 38-year-old since she was a teenager, and under him, she became a World No.3 and lifted the 2022 Wimbledon title.

Fans’ mixed reaction to Elena Rybakina’s split with David Sanguinetti

Some fans said it’s only up to Elena Rybakina to choose what she wants to do with her team, backing her decision. But those criticizing this move claimed it wasn’t Rybakina’s decision, that she was rather forced by Stefano Vukov to fire David Sanguinetti.

Elena Rybakina 1
Elena Rybakina (Image via X/Jimmie48 Photography)

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After her split with Vukov last year, Rybakina hired Goran Ivanisevic. But earlier this year, the 26-year-old decided to re-hire Vukov.

Novak Djokovic‘s former coach was reportedly blindsided by this decision and eventually parted ways with her after her campaign at the Australian Open. It was the first time Ivanisevic joined a WTA player’s team. It was also his first coaching job since his split with the 24-time Grand Slam champion in March last year.

Elena Rybakina says she never had any issue with Stefano Vukov

Rybakina, after her third-round win over Emma Raducanu at the US Open, opened up about her relationship with Vukov. At that time, Sanguinetti was her official coach.

This year I tried with a new coach. It didn’t work out in the beginning, so the results were not the same as previous years, but for now, we are managing and getting closer to where I want to be physically…overall, I’m happy with how the work is going right now.

In the fourth round, Rybakina fell in three sets against Marketa Vondrousova, who later was forced to withdraw from the quarterfinals against Aryna Sabalenka. Rybakina has now crashed out of every Major without reaching the last eight this year.

And yeah, seeing Stefano in the box definitely helps a lot, and I think it’s important when the whole team can support him. I never had any issues with him. So for me, as I said, it’s just nice to see him in the box. We always have good communication, and we’ve never had an issue.

Elena Rybakina added

Rybakina last reached a Grand Slam semifinal at the 2024 Wimbledon. She also played her career’s first fourth-round match at Flushing Meadows. This season, Rybakina has won just one title – she beat Liudmila Samsonova in the Strasbourg Open final, also her first title since the 2024 Stuttgart Open.

Rybakina is expected to start her campaign on the Asian swing at the China Open. She was a semifinalist in the event in 2023 but skipped it last year. In WTA 1000 events, the two-time champion reached three semifinals this season.

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