Tennis: Elena Rybakina splits from Stefano Vukov

What is going on with Elena Rybakina? This is the question that many tennis fans have been asking themselves in recent weeks. The world number four from Kazakhstan withdrew from the US Open after losing a match in the tournament. Since then, she has also canceled two other tournaments. Her last tournament victory was in April. Shortly before the US Open, she also parted ways with her long-time coach Stefano Vukov, with whom she had worked since 2019 and climbed to the top of the world.

At the time, Rybakina did not reveal the exact reasons for the split. Now Russian journalist Sofya Tartakova is shedding some light on the matter. According to the insider, the Croatian’s training methods caused recurring physical injuries and psychological problems for Rybakina.

“All these difficulties that she is currently facing are due to the great pressure that her former coach Vukov puts on her,” Tartakova explained in a talk on the YouTube channel “Tennis Bolshei”. Vukov was still there at the US Open in New York and wanted to continue working with Rybakina.

The 25-year-olds then decided not to continue their collaboration. The reason for this was the regular psychological terror that Rybakina was subjected to by Vukov. “There was a lot of pressure, suffering and nasty words that Vukov said to her,” explained Tartakova. Recently, rumors were circulating that the 37-year-old had been banned by the WTA. However, there has been no confirmation of this yet.

Rybakina has had to deal with health problems repeatedly this season. Sometimes it was stomach problems, sometimes her back hurt. According to Tartakova, Rybakina’s current complaints are all psychosomatic and can be traced back to the great stress that her former coach allegedly caused on a massive scale.

“He really ‘devoured’ her,” explains the tennis insider about the relationship between Vukov and Rybakina. The parents of the former Wimbledon champion intervened and insisted on the separation. Rybakina herself could not have broken the “vicious circle”. This was also because she was very close to Vukov and celebrated the most important successes of her career with him. Now Rybakina is trying to get her mental problems under control and return to the tennis court soon.