(Video) Fans Slam ‘Creepy’ Tennis Presenter for ‘Inappropriately Touching’ Elena Rybakina – “She Looked Really Uncomfortable”

Reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina will be chasing her second title at Indian Wells.

(Video) Fans Slam ‘Creepy’ Tennis Presenter for ‘Inappropriately Touching’ Elena Rybakina – “She Looked Really Uncomfortable”

Tennis presenter accused of inappropriately touching Elena Rybakina (Image via X/The Tennis Letter, Nick Ally)

In Short
  • Elena Rybakina appeared uncomfortable during a trophy presentation after a presenter inappropriately touched her.
  • Fans criticized the presenter, David Renker, for his behavior, calling it disrespectful and inappropriate.
  • Rybakina has not publicly commented on the incident, which has gone viral on social media.

Elena Rybakina appeared uncomfortable during the trophy presentation of the Eisenhower Cup, an exhibition event held on the eve of Indian Wells. Rybakina and her partner, Taylor Fritz, beat Americans Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien.

Rybakina and Fritz collected a cheque of $200,000 and were also given trophies. After winning the prizes, the players posed for the cameras, during which a tennis presenter slid his hand behind Rybakina’s back.

He was David Renker, Senior Vice President of Eisenhower Health. Rybakina, though she was smiling for the cameras, seemingly nudged his hand away. The Kazakh ace also later glanced at Renker, who seemed to immediately take a step away from her.

Here’s the video of the incident:

As expected, the clip of the seemingly awkward trophy ceremony has gone viral with tennis fans accusing Renker of deliberately indulging in inappropriate behavior. Rybakina has yet to comment on the incident.

Fans react after Elena Rybakina appeared to remove the presenter’s hand from her back

When the clip emerged on social media, some tennis fans called out those who questioned Elena Rybakina‘s relationship with coach Stefano Vukov and had urged the WTA to take action. Some fans asked Pam Shriver to give her reaction to the whole thing, given that she heavily commented against Vukov.

Elena Rybakina
Elena Rybakina (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

Check out their reactions here:

Earlier in 2025, Rybakina made frequent headlines not because of her on-court performance but because of her relationship with Vukov, which WTA CEO Portia Archer called “toxic”. The WTA banned the Croatian coach for one year, accusing him of behaving badly with the tennis ace. But after six months, the ban was overturned after Vukov’s appeal. Rybakina did not pose for photos with Archer following her victory at the 2025 WTA Finals.

Elena Rybakina makes feelings known on playing doubles with Taylor Fritz

Rybakina will be chasing her second title at Indian Wells. Back in 2023, she clinched her first WTA 1000 title by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the California desert.

Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz (Image via X/Jose Morgado)

The previous season, Fritz lifted his career’s first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells by beating Rafael Nadal. In the pre-tournament press conference, Rybakina made her feelings known on partnering with the American for doubles in the Eisenhower Cup.

I like the format. I think it’s nice to play, first of all, with the guys also, and it’s nice to try also the courts, you know. It’s still a competition, so you want to win. I think it’s a cool event. Yeah, last year it was nice, so hopefully we can defend our title (smiling).

Fritz has yet to win another Big Title since that victory in the first Masters 1000 of the season. Rybakina is a two-time winner at this level, also lifting the 2023 Italian Open.

Well, I think just the game style, we both play kind of aggressive, and we have big serves. Yeah, it’s just generally fun. Also, Taylor, he knows, of course, guys, so he will give me some advice on the return, which is like really difficult to return guys’ serves. So yeah, it’s just fun competition. Yeah, hopefully, as I said, we can defend our title.

Elena Rybakina added

Fritz lost to eventual champion Jack Draper in the fourth round at the 2025 Indian Wells, while Rybakina also lost to eventual winner Mirra Andreeva in the fourth round. Fritz will be chasing his first title of the season, and Rybakina will be bidding to win her second title of the season following her win at the Australian Open. She beat Sabalenka in three sets to become a two-time Grand Slam champion.

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