Elena Rybakina says she did not complain about ex-coach before his WTA suspension

MELBOURNE – Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina said on Jan 11 she had not complained about her former coach Stefano Vukov before his provisional suspension by the governing body of women's tennis for a potential code of conduct breach.

The 25-year-old split with Vukov in August, just days ahead of the US Open, before appointing Goran Ivanisevic in November, but had wanted to bring Vukov back into her coaching team in January.

Vukov, who is currently being investigated by the WTA and cannot obtain credentials to its tournaments, denies wrongdoing and told The Athletic he “never abused anyone” after the outlet first reported the provisional ban.

He was reported to have used harsh and abusive behaviour towards players.

“I don’t agree with a lot of things the WTA do in the sense of my relationship with Stefano,” Rybakina told reporters ahead of the Australian Open, which begins on Jan 12.

“I have never made any complaints or any of these things. I always said that he never mistreated me. I don’t really want to speak about this any more. I want to focus on my matches here.”

Rybakina, who won the 2022 Wimbledon title under Vukov, did not specify his role in her team and said that it was unfair of the tennis community to be commenting on the situation.

“I’m not happy with the whole situation, especially when still some coaches are making some comments and the people who aren’t so close to the tennis world, they see the comments and they’re picking it up, making even more of a show out of this,” the world No. 6 added.

“I don’t think it’s fair. But as I said, my goal here is to focus on the matches. This is what I’m going to do.”

The 2023 Melbourne Park runner-up begins her campaign against 16-year-old Australian Emerson Jones, the world junior No. 1 tipped to follow in the footsteps of former Melbourne Park champion Ashleigh Barty.

“I think she’s definitely a good player,” said Rybakina of the youngster, who will be making her Grand Slam main-draw debut after being awarded a wild card.

“She’s a good player, dangerous player. Especially when you’re young, you have nothing to lose. And she’s at home. I definitely take it as a very tough opponent because you never know what to expect.”

Meanwhile, fear of ingesting a contaminated substance led Britain’s Emma Raducanu to turn down treatment for an insect bite ahead of the Australian Open.

Speaking ahead of her opening-round match against Russian 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, the former US Open champion said recent high-profile doping cases had made her wary.

“I got really badly bitten by I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” Raducanu, 22, said at her pre-tournament media conference.

“They flared up and swelled up really a lot. Someone was giving me this antiseptic spray – natural, to try to ease the bites. I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t want to spray it.

“I was just left there with my swollen ankle and hand. I was like: ‘I’m just going to tough it out because I don’t want to risk it.’ It’s obviously a concern on our mind.”

Tennis was rocked in 2024 when men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner tested positive for the banned substance clostebol but escaped a ban after an independent tribunal hearing found that he bore no fault or negligence.

The Italian’s explanation that he had been inadvertently contaminated with the substance by his physiotherapist during a massage was accepted, although the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed against the decision.

Women’s five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek also escaped a lengthy ban after a tribunal accepted that her failed doping test for the banned substance trimetazidine had been the result of a contaminated batch of sleeping medication.

Those cases will remain a hot topic in Melbourne and Raducanu said players have to be extra careful.

“We’re all in the same boat. I think it’s just how we manage as best as we can the controllables,” she said.

“If ­something out of our control ­happens, then it’s going to be a bit of a struggle to try and prove.”
REUTERS, AFP