Elena Rybakina is everywhere right now! She’s making waves on the court with her strong start at the Qatar Open, but she’s also in the news because of everything that’s been going on with her former coach, Stefan Vukov. Remember all that drama from January when he was provisionally suspended for allegedly violating the WTA’s Code of Conduct? He denied everything, of course, but the WTA just confirmed the ban is still in place. And get this – the WTA Chief Executive even spilled some interesting details about the whole situation!
“The WTA confirms that the independent investigation into a potential breach of the WTA Code of Conduct by Stefano Vukov has concluded. Following this process, the suspension remains in place. To protect the confidentiality and integrity of the investigation and its findings, the WTA will not provide further details. We remain committed to ensuring that all matters are handled in a fair and objective manner in accordance with the WTA Code of Conduct,” said WTA statement on the suspension of Elena Ryabkina’s former coach. How long will his ban be upheld?
While the WTA hasn’t publicly stated how long the suspension is or exactly what rules Vukov broke, The Athletic reported that two anonymous sources familiar with the investigation (who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their relationships within the tennis world) have said it’s a one-year ban.
It said that the chief executive of the WTA tour issued Stefano Vukov a three-page summary in which she stated that Elena Rybakina’s ex-coach had violated the Tour’s code of conduct by calling the tennis star, “stupid” and told her that without him Rybakina would “still be in Russia picking potatoes.” Not only that, according to those reports, Archer also mentioned how “Vukov made Rybakina cry and subjected her to mental abuse and pushing her beyond her physical limits, which caused Rybakina to become ill.”
Crucially, Archer’s investigation found that Vukov harassed Rybakina by repeatedly contacting her, including sending numerous texts, during the U.S. Open weeks after she had fired him. This also meant he violated the “no contact” rule that was part of his initial WTA suspension.
Portia Archer further stated, “We need a safe environment for everyone,” and according to her, Vukov’s behavior was a “contradiction” to that.
For those who are unaware of the recent happenings in Elena Rybakina’s coaching team, Rybakina parted ways with Vukov right before the 2024 US Open. Shortly after that, a renowned Russian journalist, Sofya Tartakova, alleged Stefano Vukov of creating a distressing atmosphere for Rybakina.
Tennis – Madrid Open – Park Manzanares, Madrid, Spain – May 2, 2024 Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina reacts during her semi final match against Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka REUTERS/Juan Medina
After splitting with Vukov, Rybakina brought in Novak Djokvic’s former coach, Goran Ivanisevic, to her team. However, surprisingly, on January 1, she announced that she was willing to reunite with her ex-coach, Vukov. This move put Ivanisevic’s future in the team in some real jeopardy and later on, he said parted ways with Rybakina. However, the decision to bring back Stefano Vukov raised the eyebrows of many inside the tennis world. Has Rybakina ever complained about Vukov in the past, though?
Despite WTA’s decision, Elena Rybakina always gave Stefano Vukov a clean chit
Elena Rybakina has worked with Stefano Vukov right from a very young age. He has helped Rybakina clinch eight titles in her career and guess what? The biggest among them was her title triumph at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. So, over the years, despite having some controversial moments during this tenure, they managed to build a strong relationship.
When Elena Rybakina announced her reunion with Vukov at the start of the 2025 season, Rennae Stubbs was among the first ones to showcase her disappointment on the same. She wrote, “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.” After seeing these comments from this tennis legend, fans may wonder: Has Elena Rybakina ever made any complaints about her former coach?
During her 2025 AO pre-tournament press conference, Rybakina said, “Well, first of all, like with the whole situation, I don’t want to speak much about what’s going to be next. But definitely, as I said before, 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.”
Even before the 2025 Qatar Open, she highlighted Vukov’s importance in her team. “He’s [Vukov] an important person in my career. We started when I was like 200 (in the world. So it’s a lot of things, on the court, outside of the court, he’s helping out with.”
So, with all this going on, it looks like it’s up to Davide Sanguinetti to help Rybakina find success on the court.
The post “Picking Potatoes”: WTA Insider Claims Shocking Revelations About Elena Rybakina’s Ex-Coach’s Controversial Ban appeared first on EssentiallySports.