The coach of Aryna Sabalenka, Anton Dubrov, believes that a major altercation between Elena Rybakina and her former coach, Stefano Vukov, may have resulted in the Kazakhstani player requesting that Vukov be barred from the WTA Tour.
The real reasons behind Rybakina’s decision to part ways with her longtime coach last month, just days before the US Open was scheduled to start, have been the subject of a great deal of conjecture.
Rumors that anything shady occurred behind the scenes were further stoked by Rybakina’s terse announcement regarding the change and her subsequent refusal to answer questions about it during news appearances.
Just a few days before her match in the second round of the US Open in New York, the 2022 Wimbledon winner withdrew, and she has not played a match since. She withdrew from the ongoing China Open the most recently.
Rybakina clarified that she was recovering from a back ailment and intended to get back on the court as quickly as possible. Others in the media, nevertheless, have expressed that they do not think the 25-year-old.
Rennae Stubbs asserts that there is undoubtedly more to her breakup with Vukov, and a prominent writer detailed Rybakina’s psychological issues following her work with the Croatian coach.
Now, Dubrov has said some thought-provoking things regarding the state of affairs. During the 2024 tournament season, Sabalenka’s longstanding coach, in an interview with Championat, recalled that Rybakina frequently reported feeling sick.
“She might not have felt well when we first met at competitions. All she would say would be, “Immune system is low.” Neither the team nor I are aware of it. We did not write her directly because we did not think it was appropriate.”
The world No. 2’s coach acknowledged that he had read the allegations on social media regarding Rybakina’s genuine reason for splitting from Vukov, but he added that because other teams’ privacy is respected, there has not been any talk of it on the WTA Tour.
“I came upon it on social media. The tour does not address this. Tennis is an individual activity, thus the competition keeps the teams within themselves. Additionally, it is uncommon for you to enter the private areas of another team.”
Depending on how their break occurred, Dubrov believes that either Rybakina or the Croatian coach could have asked for the move, even if he is unsure if Vukov was barred from the WTA Tour.
After working with someone for a while, a person may occasionally write to the WTA in a fit of pique, requesting to be removed from anything. Perhaps he asked for it. Perhaps after their altercation, she went to the WTA and requested that his name be removed because he was coaching her. There were issues on the inside.”
I did not really want to write to him at the US Open because I wanted to be as realistic as possible and focus emphasis on my people. If nothing changes, I will write to Stefano to find out how he is doing.” Eventually, the truth regarding Rybakina and Vukov’s breakup will probably out. The former Wimbledon champion is hopefully doing well and will make her way back to the WTA Tour whenever she is ready.
