MELBOURNE, Australia — Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, stated Saturday she disagrees with the WTA Tour’s choice to provisionally droop her longtime coach, Stefano Vukov, and reiterated that she by no means made a criticism about him.
“I all the time stated that he by no means mistreated me,” Rybakina stated at a information convention the day earlier than the beginning of the Australian Open, the place she was the runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka two years in the past.
Rybakina, who’s seeded No. 6 in Melbourne, characterised the entire thing as “undoubtedly not the perfect scenario” as she prepares to compete within the 12 months’s first Grand Slam match, and stated she objected to feedback made by “some coaches,” mentioning Pam Shriver by identify.
“I’ve by no means made any complaints or any of these items,” Rybakina stated Saturday. “I do not actually wish to discuss this any extra. I wish to concentrate on my matches right here.”
Rybakina introduced proper earlier than final 12 months’s US Open that she not was working with Vukov, then stated forward of this season that her new coach can be Goran Ivanisevic. He gained Wimbledon in 2001 as a participant after which was Novak Djokovic’s coach for 12 main titles.
However Rybakina stated this month that Vukov can be rejoining her group. The WTA then stated Vukov “is presently underneath a provisional suspension pending an unbiased investigation into a possible breach of the WTA code of conduct.”
The WTA added that “Vukov just isn’t eligible to acquire a WTA credential presently,” which might stop him from going into player-only areas at tournaments akin to follow courts or coaching areas.
Rybakina, the 2023 Australian Open runner-up, faces 16-year-old Australian Emerson Jones within the first spherical.
The Related Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
