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Russian former WTA star Elena Vesnina recently assessed Elena Rybakina's late flourish in the 2025 tennis season. According to Vesnina, Rybakina greatly benefited from reinstating Stefano Vukov as her coach following a protracted controversy surrounding the Croatian earlier in the year.
Vukov was initially suspended indefinitely after a WTA investigation found the coach guilty of violating the professional women's tennis governing body's Code of Conduct. According to the critics of the Croatian coach, he had, on multiple previous instances, behaved in an abusive manner with Rybakina. However, the Kazakh WTA star herself maintained that Vukov had done no wrong.
Eventually, the ban on the coach was lifted in August, following which he was back in Elena Rybakina's box. Slowly and steadily, the Kazakh's on-court performances and results began to improve, culminating in semifinal finishes at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open, and a title triumph at the Ningbo Open.
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At the year-end WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Rybakina won the prestigious tournament for the first time in her career with Round Robin phase victories against Amanda Anisimova, Iga Swiatek and Ekaterina Alexandrova, a semifinal win over Jessica Pegula, and a straight-set upset of reigning No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final. The Kazakh ended the season as the World No. 5.
Recently, Russian ex-pro Elena Vesnina, a former women's doubles No. 1, multi-time doubles Major champion and an Olympic gold medalist in doubles as well, delivered a positive take on Vukov rejoining Rybakina's camp despite the controversy surrounding the Croatian coach.
"I think Lena (Rybakina) has calmed down because she's got someone back who knows her very well, knows her strengths and weaknesses, and understands how to, so to speak, awaken her. Because I think Lena, due to her somewhat phlegmatic temperament, can sometimes seem to retreat into herself and reflect," Vesnina said. (as reported by Championat)
The 39-year-old added:
"And Stefano Vukov knows how to bring her back to the right state with his own methods: 'So, you're on the court. You're winning, come on, you're a machine, you're working,'"
Elena Rybakina laid bare "motivation to work even more" after WTA Finals title triumph to end 2025 on sensational note
Speaking to the official website of the WTA Tour on the back of her emphatic success at the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Elena Rybakina spoke up about the motivation the title triumph gave her to put in the extra work for making more of an impact, particularly at the Majors, in the upcoming 2026 season.
"All that happened this week, I can bring to the next season. It gives me so much more motivation to work even more because we did good progress in the little blocks between the tournaments. Physically, even when I wasn’t at my best, we did a good job," Rybakina said.
Elena Rybakina is a Major champion, having won the women's singles title at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships under coach Stefano Vukov's tutelage.
