Elena Rybakina: Former No 1 reveals ‘players said stuff to me’ about Kazakh’s ex-coach

Former doubles world No 1 Rennae Stubbs has revealed that ‘other players have said stuff to me’ about Elena Rybakina’s ex-coach Stefano Vukov.

Rybakina split with Vukov, her coach of five years, shortly before her US Open campaign in August.

Under Vukov’s guidance, the Kazakh won Wimbledon in 2022 and reached a career-high of third in the WTA Rankings, among other achievements.

However, Rybakina’s relationship with the Croatian has long been scrutinised and concerns have been raised since the split, with Vukov seemingly removed from the WTA’s list of official coaches.

Speaking on her podcast, five-time major champion Stubbs revealed she always thought that Vukov was “not a good element” – a sentiment she believes was widespread across the WTA locker room.

“You guys know, if you have listened to our podcast, I had my feelings and my thoughts when it came to her coach,” she said. “I thought he was not a good element.

“When I’m playing a match, I don’t want to see my coach gesturing, looking all pissed off up there. And there’s been some coaches of late that I’m like: ‘Why do these players allow these coaches to look like this?’ Because you need a positive influence around you when you’re looking up there.

“When she would win matches, he was giving her s**t. This is what other people saw. There’s 25 other people that could see the same thing I was seeing.”

Rybakina has not played since beating Destanee Aiava in the opening round of the US Open, after which she refused to answer questions about her split from Vukov in significant detail.

The Kazakh then withdrew from her second round match due to a lower back injury and has since withdrawn from tournaments in Seoul, Beijing, and Wuhan.

However, in a statement released following her withdrawals from the latter two events, the 25-year-old revealed her hope to return for the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

This season has seen Rybakina win three WTA 500-level events in Brisbane, Abu Dhabi, and Stuttgart, as well as reach the last four of Wimbledon and the last eight of Roland Garros.

However, it has been a year defined by significant withdrawals due to either illness or injury, missing both her Indian Wells and Rome title defences back in the spring.