Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina said on Saturday she would put aside the controversy surrounding her former coach Stefano Vukov to focus on winning the Australian Open.
The sixth-seeded Kazakh wanted to bring Vukov back into her coaching team for the year’s first Grand Slam.
However, the Croatian is currently on interim suspension “pending an independent investigation into a potential breach of the WTA code of conduct,” the governing body of women’s tennis said.
Vukov, who helped Rybakina win Wimbledon in 2022, reportedly behaved harshly and abusively towards the players. He denies any misconduct.
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Rybakina defended him when questioned by reporters on the eve of the first Grand Slam this year.
“I don’t agree with a lot of what the WTA is doing regarding my relationship with Stefano,” said Rybakina, who lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the 2023 Australian Open final.
“I never made any complaints or anything like that. I always said he never treated me badly.
“It’s definitely not an ideal situation. But like I said, my goal is to focus on the matches. That’s what I’m going to do.”
“I really don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
Rybakina will face 16-year-old Australian Emerson Jones in the first round, the number one in the junior world, who is expected to follow in the footsteps of former Melbourne Park champion Ash Barty.
“I think she’s definitely a good player,” Rybakina said of the youngster, who will make her Grand Slam main draw debut after receiving a wild card.
“She is a good player, but dangerous. Especially when you are young, you have nothing to lose. And he’s home.
“I definitely consider it a very difficult opponent because you never know what to expect.”
