WORLD No4 Elena Rybakina sacked her coach just three days before the US Open due to “psychological problems” caused by his repeated insults.
The tennis superstar worked with Stefano Vukov for five years before parting ways with him.
During their time together she reached the 2023 Australian Open final and won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2022.
However, Russian journalist Sofya Tartakova has revealed things were far from perfect behind the scenes.
She told the Tennis Bolshei YouTube channel: “All these difficulties that she [currently] faces, she faces because of a lot of very heavy pressure associated with her former coach Vukov.
“They say that Stefano actually came to the US Open, that he was in New York, was ready to continue working with her, but Lena decided that they would break up because of a very difficult…
“I don’t want to say big words, not quite the correct attitude of her mentor towards her.
“That is, he ‘ate’ her all the time, as people who surrounded Lena say. Rybakina’s parents stood up for her, because she could not break this vicious circle.
“On one hand, this is the coach who worked with her since [a young age], and she herself, together with her family, chose him.
“It is clear that they were very close, she won the main achievements of her career thanks to their joint work, [but] her parents insisted that Lena change something in her tennis life, because there was pressure, and insults, and bad words said to her. They were constantly from Vukov’s lips.
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“And now Elena Rybakina is suffering and trying to get rid of psychological problems, so the situation is, of course, very difficult for her, but we’ll see.
“I tried to find out if there is official information that he is banned from the WTA Tour, because we discussed this several months ago, that a report was allegedly written on him and he was suspended from work.
“No one has officially confirmed this yet. We will find out very soon, if he finds another protégé, then this ban does not exist.
“But according to Vukov, as he positions himself, he does not have any ban. But it was a big surprise that Lena stopped working with him.”
Rybakina recently pulled out of three successive tournaments, citing a back issue.
