Elena Rybakina has once again defended coach Stefano Vukov as the reigning Wimbledon champion says some comments made about their relationship have been “disrespectful.” During Rybakina’s Australian Open semifinal match against Victoria Azarenka, Pam Shriver’s tweet about coach Vukov drew lots of attention: “As I watch Rybakina try to win her second major in 7 months, I hope she finds a coach who speaks and treats her with respect at ALL times and does not ever accept anything less”.
After Vukov came under fire, Rybakina released a lengthy message on her Instagram, describing Shriver’s claims as “fake news.” But even after Rybakina’s public defense of coach Vukov, Marion Bartoli came out claiming that she witnessed Vukov not treating Rybakina respectfully in practices.
“People don’t really know us that well and like to comment or say something that they don’t know. It’s not their business at the end of the day. I think it was kind of disrespectful to him and to me.
I just had to do it so everybody knows that whatever they can see or think, they don’t know us. Hopefully, we won’t get any other comments like these,” Rybakina told Tennis Channel, per Tennis365.
Rybakina on coach Vukov, her team: We have a good relationship
Rybakina has been working with coach Vukov since 2019 and they have had lots of success together.
According to Rybakina, the entire team has a good relationship and no one takes anything personally. “It’s such slow conditions for me and difficult and I’m kind of stressed out on every point. Sometimes I can get mad also for no reason to tell something to my team, but hopefully they understand.
I’m trying to focus on myself, sometimes it’s good, sometimes its not. So it’s just something between us but everything is good,” Rybakina explained. Under the guidance of coach, Rybakina made two Grand Slam finals and reached the top-10.
