Former doubles world No 1 Rennae Stubbs has revealed Elena Rybakina’s banned coach Stefano Vukov wanted to sue her for voicing concerns about his “very negative” coaching.
Rybakina and Vukov worked together for over five years until they parted ways in August 2024.
However, despite hiring Goran Ivanisevic as her coach at the end of last season, Rybakina divulged on January 1 that Vukov would be returning to her team this year.
The day after Rybakina’s surprise move, it emerged that Vukov had been provisionally suspended by the WTA Tour pending an investigation into a breach of their code of conduct.
The WTA announced last week that Vukov will remain banned from coaching the 2022 Wimbledon champion in an official capacity, with The Athletic reporting it is a one-year ban.
In a statement, the WTA said: “The WTA confirms that the independent investigation into a potential breach of the WTA Code of Conduct by Stefano Vukov has concluded.
“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.”
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The Athletic has also reported shocking details of the “mental abuse” Rybakina was subjected to from Vukov and disclosed that the pair’s relationship was described as “toxic” in a letter by the WTA’s chief executive Portia Archer.
Rybakina has publicly maintained that Vukov “has never mistreated” her and she has expressed her disappointment at the ban.
Speaking on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Stubbs explained that Vukov “came after” her for saying things about him years ago that have since been proven to be true.
“He came after me and wanted to sue me, okay, for saying things about him that were true, that have been now investigated for years are now true,” the six-time Grand Slam doubles champion said.
“He has been banned for a year now because what I told them years ago has been now backed up by several other people who are in her actual team.
“I have seen him yelling at her, I could have been one of those witnesses. And I probably was one of those witnesses because they interviewed me years ago about him because I made comments on this podcast years ago about him.
“And I never said anything about him abusing her. I just said he was very negative. And I felt like with a positive coach, wow, how much better could she be? Imagine how good she could be with a really positive coach.
“And so, those are the comments I made about him. And then he actually contacted the WTA and wanted to come after me for making those comments.”
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