Elena Rybakina is going through a rather turbulent 2024. Gone are the big titles and a time when she stood out as a circuit revelation: establishing herself in the absolute elite of the women’s circuit has brought, months later, episodes that the Kazakh will want to forget and that not many people know about. The latest big news involving her team was the dismissal of Stefano Vukov, her coach since she was 17 and with whom she reached glory at Wimbledon… a decision that seems to hide a genuine psychological ordeal.
Because despite flashes of brilliance in such an irregular year (the talent that the Kazakh possesses is such that she has won titles in Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart, in addition to good performances at Roland Garros, where she reached the quarterfinals, and Wimbledon, where she made it to the semifinals), the recent North American tour has been the last straw. Brief appearances with mid-tournament retirements were explained, according to the official version, due to a back injury that has not left Rybakina at peace. However, in the last hours, there have been statements that could change everything.
They are made by Sonya Tartakova, a renowned Russian tennis journalist, experienced in various media and a friend of names like Kasatkina or Rublev (in fact, supporting some of her statements at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to her dismissal from a television network in that country). Tartakova did not hold back and dissected the relationship between Rybakina and Vukov, pointing out that the Kazakh was subjected to tremendous psychological stress by her coach and that mental health issues stemming from this relationship are the real reason for her current absence from the circuit.
“Many people do not understand the reason for her health problems. They comment that she has back problems, that is the official reason; she has also had stomach problems. However, as mentioned by people involved in her professional career, right now Elena is under a lot of stress, it is psychosomatic. She is in a chaotic moment, in a completely disorganized state, she cannot play. All these difficulties she is facing right now come from the tremendous pressure generated by her former coach, Vukov.
They say that Stefano had traveled to New York and was ready to continue working with Elena, but she decided that they were going to split because… I don’t want to use too big words, but let’s say because of an inappropriate attitude towards her. He “ate up” all her time, as people around Elena used to say. Her parents stood up for her because she couldn’t get out of that vicious circle.”
On one hand, we are talking about the coach who has been with her since she was 17, whom she, along with her family, chose. On the other hand, it is clear that they were very close, that she experienced the best moments of her career thanks to a joint effort, but her parents insisted that Lena needed a change in her tennis life: there was pressure, insults, bad words constantly coming from Vukov’s lips.
Now she is the one suffering, trying to get rid of these psychological problems. The situation is very complicated for her, we will see. I have tried to find information on whether he is sanctioned within the WTA circuit, because we talked about this months ago, that supposedly there was a statement suspending him within the circuit. No one has officially confirmed this. We will soon find out if he finds a new pupil, if this sanction exists: Vukov claims it doesn’t.”
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