Being a sportsperson is tough and the toughest part is staying away from the loved ones. As the season gets more hectic with each passing year, players have to stay away from home for months. This can be a tough pill to swallow. Ask Elena Rybakina, who has experienced this situation over the past few years. However, the 2024 season was a completely different scenario for the Kazakh star.

Over the course of the season, Elena Rybakina has been struggling with injuries. Moreover, she missed the Asian leg of the WTA Tour due to a back injury which has been a persistent issue for her. Thus, Rybakina missed a series of tournaments and remained away from the action for long. However, not all was bad during this time as she could enjoy precious time with her family.

During an interview earlier this week, Rybakina was asked how difficult it was to stay away from the family while playing continuously on the tour. She said, “It’s not easy for sure. This year, I actually ended up having a relatively long, though unplanned, break, so I was able to spend time with family. But again, if the season is going well and you’re not missing tournaments due to injuries, it’s very rare to spend time with family or stay in one place for more than two weeks. However, I do have the opportunity for my parents to come visit me, which is a big plus. And sometimes my sister travels with me, so that support really helps.”

Following her lengthy absence on the court and spending quality time with her family, Rybakina made a comeback at the WTA Finals. However, she won just 1 match against Aryna Sabalenka and bowed out of the tournament in the group stage itself.

Ahead of the 2024 US Open, Rybakina split with her long-time coach Stefano Vukov. However, she aims to make a fresh start and appointed Goran Ivanisevic as her new coach.

Elena Rybakina explodes in optimism over working with Goran Ivanisevic

Rybakina hired Novak Djokovic’s ex-coach, Ivanisevic to replace Vukov. The two will begin their partnership in the upcoming season. While Ivanisevic achieved tremendous success working with Djokovic, Rybakina is hoping for an equally effective partnership with the legendary coach.

She revealed, “I think he’s a great champion and he has so much experience. I’m really looking forward to start. It’s something new for me. I’ve been with one coach for a long time. I want to learn. I’m really happy and we will see what we can do together.”

Moreover, Ivanisevic is also gearing up for a new challenge, having never coached a WTA player before. He said, “After Novak, it’s really hard to coach anyone, so I needed something completely different. When you’re the coach of the greatest player of all time, you just need something new. So the choice was some young player or something completely different, and this ’completely different’ was the WTA Tour.”

With the 2024 season not going according to Rybakina’s plans, she would be eager to get back to winning ways next year. With Ivanisevic by her side, it’ll be interesting to see how she performs in the upcoming season. What do you think about the Rybakina-Ivanisevic partnership? Let us know in the comments below.