WTA Tour confirms Rybakina’s former coach’s suspension; Confidential details of findings emerge

The WTA Tour has confirmed that Stefano Vukov, the former coach of world No 7 Elena Rybakina, remains suspended after completion of its investigation into a potential breach of its code of conduct.

The WTA did not confirm how long the suspension would be in place for and did not release the findings of the investigation to the public to protect the player concerned.

“The WTA confirms that the independent investigation into a potential breach of the WTA code of conduct by Stefano Vukov has concluded,” the statement said. “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.”

Despite the ban on Vukov, Rybakina has said that the Croatian is still part of her team and that she is in regular contact with him, although Vukov cannot attend any tournament while he remains suspended.

We remain committed to ensuring that all matters are handled in a fair and objective manner in accordance with the WTA code of conduct.

Vukov has denied any wrongdoing on his part and Rybakina, who announced a split from the coach in August 2024, herself has said last month that she wanted to continue working with Vukov. The Kazakh had hired Goran Ivanisevic in December but the two parted ways following the Australian Open and Davide Sanguinetti has since joined the team.

According to a report in The Athletic, the report findings included that Vukov had called the former Wimbledon champion “stupid” and that without him, she would be “in Russia picking potatoes”. The report in The Athletic went on to way that Rybakina was subject to mental abuse by Vukov, who also pushed the player beyond her physical limits which led to her falling ill.

The report also said that Vukov reached out repeatedly to Rybakina after being dropped by her as her coach after the US Open and did not adhere to the ‘no contact’ directive while the provisional suspension was in place.

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