In November, Rybakina announced that the 2025 season will begin with Goran Ivanishevich. Yelena and Goran held pre-season training together and went to Australia. But Rybakina’s recent message on Instagram was shocking, to say the least:
“Hello everyone, I am happy to announce that Stefano will join the team for the 2025 season. Thank you all for your support 🙌🏻 May your 2025 be wonderful ❤️,” the Kazakh woman wrote on January 1.
On January 3, the authoritative publication The Athletic released a large article in which they shared several insiders about the situation.
Translation of The Athletic article:
The former coach of Yelena Rybakina, Stefano Vukov, was suspended by the WTA due to an investigation into violations of the rules of conduct.
On the eve of the Australian Open, a serious conflict is heating up on the Women’s Tour.
Yelena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, wants to bring former coach Stefano Vukov back to her team, but Vukov has been suspended by the WTA Tour pending a confidential and private investigation for violating the tour’s Code of Conduct.
Vukov is barred from receiving WTA accreditation, and Tennis Australia will not issue him accreditation for the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2025 season.
Vukov denies violating the WTA code, and Rybakina, the world number six, has repeatedly said that Vukov’s behavior towards her was never offensive. She made that clear to the WTA, according to a spokesperson briefed on the ongoing investigation. The WTA launched an investigation last year after complaints about his behavior, which others described as intense and sometimes rude.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Stefano Vukov and Yelena Rybakina While other coaches and commentators, including Pam Shriver, Donna Vekic’s coach and an ESPN analyst, publicly criticized Vukov, Rybakina defended him, and she was not among those who complained to the WTA Tour.
“Definitely never offended anyone,” Vukov wrote in a text message during his flight to Australia on Thursday from Dubai.
“The WTA can confirm that Stefano Vukov is currently suspended pending an independent investigation into a possible violation of the WTA Code of Conduct,” a WTA spokesperson said in a statement.
“As part of the temporary suspension, Vukov does not have the right to receive WTA accreditation at the moment. While the WTA does not normally comment on active investigations, we feel it is necessary to clarify this matter due to recent public statements that distort the situation. We will not provide additional details at this time.”
Tennis Australia did not respond to requests for comment.
The WTA Tour is in the final stages of preparing its independent investigation into Vukov, which could be released in the coming days, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.
Those sources say the WTA Tour has not interviewed Vukov about the complaints. They spoke anonymously so as not to jeopardize current relationships with people in the sport.
Since Vukov is effectively suspended from coaching, he will not be able to go to the training courts or Rybakina’s box at the Australian Open or any other event. But in an Instagram story posted on January 1 from Perth, where Rybakina was competing in the United Cup for Kazakhstan alongside current coach Goran Ivanisevic, she confirmed Vukov’s return to her team.
“Hello everyone, I am happy to announce that Stefano will be joining the team for the 2025 season. Thank you all for your support. And I wish you a wonderful 2025,” Rybakina wrote.
Rybakina’s decision to bring back Vukov creates the potential for a confrontation with the sport’s top brass just days before the start of the year’s first Grand Slam, traditionally one of the sport’s most important moments of the year.
People in direct contact with Rybakina, a 2023 finalist in Melbourne, said it was unclear what she would do if Vukov was not allowed to coach her. Possibilities include everything from buying tickets so he can watch matches inside the stadium, to boycotting tournaments and WTA Tour events.
According to sources briefed on the investigation, Rybakina has been in contact with the WTA Tour for several months in an attempt to deny the allegations and get Vukov to coach her. Her decision to publicly declare her desire to work with Vukov along with Ivanishevich, whose appointment she announced just two months ago, brought this issue to the fore.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Stefano Vukov While Vukov can’t coach her, Rybakina’s social media post doesn’t mention what role he will play. Sources close to Rybakina’s latest developments and familiar with the ongoing investigation said Rybakina and Vukov regularly talk about and before her matches.
Along with its code of conduct, the WTA on Monday, Dec. 26, published new rules to ensure safety in a 50-page document seen by The Athletic.
Some of the rules, including the authority that allows the WTA Tour to temporarily suspend a coach without giving reasons or notifying them of an ongoing investigation, appear to fit the details of the situation involving Rybakina and Vukov, but they are not directly part of the Code of Conduct he is in violation of under investigation
What this will do for Ivanisevic, who recently coached Novak Djokovic, remains to be seen.
The appointment of Ivanishevich was considered a major coup for Rybakina. However, their partnership became strained after she announced that Vukov would be returning just weeks after Ivanisevic started working with her. Ivanishevich, who is on a short-term contract (not uncommon in tennis), was stunned by Rybakina’s statement, according to sources at recent Rybakina events and briefed on the ongoing investigation into Vukov. Earlier this week, Rybakina told reporters on court that the tennis world would eventually “see the work” they are both doing.
It is not yet clear whether Ivanishevich will stay if Vukov manages to become Rybakina’s actual coach again in the future.
Vukov flew to Australia at the request of Rybakina, but he cannot be with her in the box, where the coach should be. Rybakina says she wants him to be there. The WTA doesn’t want that, and Tennis Australia supports a temporary ban.
Source: sport.ua