By Shrivathsa Sridhar
BENGALURU (Reuters) – Elena Rybakina defended her former coach Stefano Vukov after he was provisionally suspended by the governing body of women’s tennis pending an investigation into a potential breach of its code of conduct, saying on Saturday he had not mistreated her.
Rybakina, who claimed the 2022 Wimbledon title under Vukov, ended their five-year partnership in August, days ahead of the U.S. Open, before she appointed Novak Djokovic’s former mentor Goran Ivanisevic for the new season.
She rehired Croatian Vukov to her team earlier this week, sparking concern from the tennis fraternity.
“I said it already before that he never mistreated me or it was never anything like that,” Rybakina said at the United Cup in Sydney, where she was gearing up for the Australian Open.
“I’m working with Goran. I’m happy the way we’ve worked for a couple of weeks. Stefano is rejoining the team because I know the person for six years and there’s a lot of things we can do outside of the court too.
“Of course I’m not really happy with the situation. I’m not happy with the comments which I see, especially from the people who are on the tour. It’s active coaches, commentators. I don’t think that it’s fair.”
Vukov denies wrongdoing and told The Athletic on Thursday that he “never abused anyone” after the outlet first reported the WTA’s provisional ban.
The WTA on Friday said Vukov would not be eligible to obtain a credential to its tournaments.
“While the WTA does not typically comment on active investigations, we believe it is necessary to clarify this matter due to recent public statements that misrepresent the situation,” the WTA said.
Reuters has contacted the Australian Open for comment on whether it will take similar action to the WTA. The Grand Slam tournament runs from Jan. 12-26.
The WTA did not say who raised the complaint against Vukov.
“We will not provide further details at this point in time,” it said.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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