Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina said her decision to issue a statement in defence of her coach was to show the ‘reality’ of their collaboration after some sports commentators raised concerns.
The world No.10 has been mentored by Stefano Vukov for almost four years. During her run to the Australian Open final, Rybakina’s coach was highly animated in the crowd and was seen making multiple gestures towards his player from the stands. Prompting criticism from some former players, including Pam Shriver who wrote on social media ‘I hope she finds a coach who speaks and treats her with respect at ALL times.’
Vukov, who is also the former coach of Anhelina Kalinina, has since defended his behaviour at Melbourne Park by saying he was just doing his job. Coaching was allowed from the stands during the Australian Open. Furthermore, Rybakina also issued a statement on Instagram hitting back at what she described as ‘disturbing comments’ about her mentor and said the criticism has been made based on misinterpretations.
During a recent interview with Eurosport, Rybakina explained she felt the need to issue such a statement because she wanted to stop rumours spreading from a ‘mess’ made on social media.
“Unfortunately, the internet is a big thing and someone can make a comment without thinking and then people just pick it up and make a mess,” she said.
“A few people made some comments; they don’t know me at all, and they don’t know my team, which I was really surprised by because if there are any problems, you can always come and talk with me directly. But people decided to post it on the internet so I kind of showed the reality, that everything is fine and everybody needs to stay in their places and not mix up.”
Rybakina says having Vukov act the way he does is positive because he helps energize her during some matches. Vukov was briefly a player on the Futures and Challenger Tour before going to America to study. His family left Croatia when he was a child due to the war and he spent roughly 15 years living in Italy.
“If you see me just like on the court, you don’t know what’s happening around and it’s quite a lot. Even if I look calm, of course, I always talk with my coach, it’s just not the moment, of course during a match I will just listen. Sometimes I really need energy because I’m quite calm and I can be so much thinking about myself, and focusing on myself during the match, so I need something quick to understand what’s happening around,” she continued.
“He helps me a lot. We have open dialogues, and we’ve worked already for four years. Sometimes I have bad days but people might not see it. And of course, when we work on the court I respect him a lot, I’m trying to listen and get all the information I can.”
Rybakina is currently at a career-high ranking following her run at the Australian Open where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the final. So far this season, the Kazakh has won seven out of 10 matches played.
Having reached the title match in two out of the past four Grand Slam tournaments, the 23-year-old believes she can become a threat on all surfaces. Although Rybakina is still on the hunt for some consistency in her game. Between Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open this year, she only managed to win back-to-back matches in three out of 10 tournaments played.
“I feel pretty well on all surfaces, and for me, it’s actually also fun to change the surface; that’s the beauty of the sport, to adapt all the time,” said Rybakina.
“I feel confident on the grass, which I actually never thought I’m going to be that good on. Because as a junior I played maybe one or two times and it was not successful so when I started to work with my coach I said I don’t really like grass, I don’t know how to play on it. But in the end, it’s for now my best achievement. My first WTA trophy was on clay, so I think I can play on all surfaces.”
Rybakina, who has won three WTA titles so far in her career, will return to action this week at the Abu Dhabi Open where she is the third seed. In her opening match on Thursday, she will play former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova.
