After a lot of anticipation, Elena Rybakina has found her new trainer. Goran Ivanisevic, who was previously associated with Novak Djokovic, is her main coach now. Ever since the news came out, many notable figures from tennis town have reacted on what it could mean for the Kazakh tennis sensation.

Rybakina is hoping that her new partnership with Ivanisevic will be fruitful. In her own words, Goran is “a great champion and he has so much experience and I’m looking forward to start. For me, it was important to get better and with the help of the agents we connected and we just decided to start working. So I’m really looking forward.”  She’s really looking forward to this new alliance. Speaking of Goran, he worked with the Serbian star for a period of five years. They parted ways a few months ago in 2024. Under the Croatian, Novak won 12 Major titles spanning six seasons – which speaks volumes of Goran’s impact.

Recently, former ATP pro Andy Roddick shared his thoughts on Elena Rybakina joining forces with Ivanisevic. Speaking on the Tennis Channel, he revealed that he was quite shocked initially with this news, owing to the fact that Ivanisevic’s only worked with male tennis players so far. “I was surprised but I shouldn’t have been right? I think we have become a little narrow-minded with Goran’s only worked with men so we didn’t even have his name in the conversation,” he said. But he thinks this is new partnership is “an unbelievable fit” for Elena. It’s because right now she needs “someone that actually has a sense of humor every once in a while.”

Touching upon Elena’s past association with Vukov, Andy suggested that her choice to go with someone like Ivanisevic is perfect. “We’ve seen kind of a decade of these accomplished coaches who have, you know, won slams in their own rights. So this makes a ton of sense and it’s exciting you know. It’s always good to have a little bit of buzz in your corner coming off of something maybe that didn’t turn out so well.” Speaking of her time with Vukov, Rybakina recently revealed how it was like working with him.

Elena Rybakina reflects on her time with Stefano Vukov

When the former World No.3 was asked on her tenure with Vukov, she said, “I think we had incredible results over five years.” Talking about her decision to make a major transition, Elena hoped that “it’s going to be a good change. Of course, it’s not going to be easy when you’ve worked with somebody for a long time, but we are good with Stefano. I just wish him the best in his new chapter.” Her reaction was different than what the rumors that suggested.

There was a rumors doing rounds on the internet about Rybakina suffering mentally because of her former coach. A reputed Russian journalist Sofya Tartakova made serious claims about Vukov’s behavior towards the player. “Many people do not understand the reason for such health problems. They said that she is having difficulties, back problems. This is the official reason. Then, during this year, she had stomach problems. But as people who did not work with her but were involved in her professional career say, she is now under a lot of stress, and this is all psychosomatic,” she said.

While Elena didn’t confirm any claims, her absence from important events raised doubts. She didn’t compete at the US Open, Paris Olympics and also missed out the complete Asian swing. But now that she’s back in action under the tutelage of someone who knows how to make and maintain legends. Elena will look forward to finish off this season on a high. Currently, she’s participating the WTA Finals in Riyadh where’s going against the top-ranked players of the world.

Do you think Elena Rybakina will end 2024 with a confidence-boosting victory in Riyadh? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.