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Elena Rybakina (Source: X)
Tennis star Elena Rybakina made waves around the fraternity in the early hours of the New Year when she announced on January 2 that her former coach, Stefano Vukov, will rejoin her for the 2025 session. The Russian announced in a post to her social media stories, stating that she is excited for Vukov to rejoin her team for this forthcoming edition, which has already been underway for nearly a week. Notably, it confirmed a report from Russian tennis media personality Sofya, where she stated that Vukov is set to travel to Melbourne on January 4 to support Rybakina at the 2025 Australian Open, slated to take place from mid-January in Melbourne.
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Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina and Vukov parted ways last summer ahead of the 2024 US Open after five years of their working relationship, which bore fruit, including her first Grand Slam singles title, another runner-up finish at the 2023 Australian Open, and a career-high ranking of world number three.
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I am excited to announce that Stefano will be joining the team for the 2025 season. Elena Rybakina
Elena Rybakina announces that Stefano Vukov is a part of her team again.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 1, 2025
“Hello everyone, I am excited to
announce that Stefano will be joining the team for the 2025 season.
Thank you all for the support 🙌
And wishing you a great 2025 ❤️”
(via Elena’s IG) pic.twitter.com/PLyrEnaIJv
However, Vokov's intense coaching style, where he could frequently be heard shouting at Rybakina from his stands, has drawn strong criticism from the fans and fellow coaches, including Hall of Famer Pam Shriver, who is currently the partner of Donna Vekic. Following the same, the 25-year-old tennis star had previously defended Vukov against such strong backlash for shouting at her, including a lengthy social media post following her run to the Australia Open final two years ago when his behaviour for the first time went viral.
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Stefano Vukov is back in Elena Rybakina's team pic.twitter.com/snvKXBAKOZ
— Mario Boccardi (@marioboc17) January 1, 2025
"Hello everyone, I am excited to announce that Stefano will be joining the team for the 2025 season. Thank you all for the support And I wish you a great 2025," Rybakina wrote on Instagram.