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Elena Rybakina launched another staunch defence of coach Stefano Vukov and hit out at those expressing concern for her welfare.
Croatian Vukov, who was the former Wimbledon champion’s long-time coach before she announced their split in August, is provisionally suspended by the WTA pending an investigation into a potential breach of its code of conduct.
Rybakina hired Goran Ivanisevic during the off-season but then announced earlier this month that Vukov was rejoining her team.
Vukov, who has denied any wrongdoing, is unable to obtain an accreditation for the Australian Open because of the suspension, and Rybakina said: “I don’t agree with a lot of things what WTA do in the sense of my relationship with Stefano.
“As I said before, I have never made any complaints or any of these things. I always said that he never mistreated me. That’s one thing. Since this situation how it is now, I don’t really want to speak about this more. I want to focus on my matches here.”
Vukov’s coaching style during matches first prompted widespread attention in Melbourne two years ago, with the Croatian seen yelling at the 25-year-old Kazakh, who is ranked sixth and among the favourites to win the title.
Former grand slam champion Pam Shriver, who works with Croatian player Donna Vekic as well as in the media, has raised frequent concerns regarding Vukov’s treatment of Rybakina.
Shriver, who revealed in 2022 that she had been in an inappropriate relationship with her coach Don Candy when she was a young player, wrote on the social media platform X: “It’s time for our entire sport to finally stand up to known abuse and cult like manipulations of players. This is a very sad situation and my prayers are with ER.”
Rybakina insists Shriver’s worries are misplaced and unhelpful, saying: “I’m not happy with the whole situation, especially when still some coaches are making some comments, and the people who are not so close to the tennis world, they just see the comments and then they’re picking it up, make even more show out of this. I don’t think it’s fair.
“She (Shriver) never came to me, never talked with me, but I know her story. It’s sad, but it doesn’t mean other players are facing the same issues.
“Since she doesn’t know me, I don’t know her, I don’t think it’s fair to make any comments like that, especially being an active coach, being commentator, journalist, so on.”
Rybakina admits the situation will make it harder to focus on her matches, with her opening contest on Tuesday pitting her against 16-year-old Australian Emerson Jones.
“It’s definitely not the ideal situation,” she added.
The position of former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic, meanwhile, is now shrouded in doubt, although they are still working together in Melbourne.
“We spoke with Goran,” said Rybakina. “As you all know, we did just pre-season. The first tournament is United Cup. It’s been not so much time. But we are getting to know each other. We are working now. We are focusing on this tournament.”
