Elena Rybakina was once part of the so-called “Big Three” in women’s tennis alongside Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. But right now, she’s more in the spotlight for off-court drama than for her game. The World No. 7’s run at the Australian Open ended in the fourth round at the hands of eventual champion Madison Keys. That alone wasn’t the biggest setback—behind the scenes, things were even more chaotic. Her longtime coach, Stefano Vukov, was provisionally banned for allegedly breaching the WTA’s code of conduct. On February 11, after an independent investigation, the WTA upheld the ban, adding more trouble for Rybakina. She has made it clear that she doesn’t agree with the decision, but what do her rivals think?

Rybakina and Vukov ended their five-year partnership in August 2024 for undisclosed reasons. During their time together, she won Wimbledon in 2022 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 3. Looking for a fresh start, she brought in Novak Djokovic’s former coach, Goran Ivanisevic, in November 2024. At first, this seemed like an exciting new chapter. But in January, the Kazakh announced that Vukov was returning to her team. Since he was still under investigation, he wasn’t granted accreditation for the Australian Open, leading her to rely on Ivanisevic during the tournament. After her run in Melbourne ended, Ivanisevic decided to walk away from their trial partnership allegedly because of Vukov’s return.

The WTA announced on February 11 that Vukov’s suspension would remain in place, though they did not disclose the duration or the specific rule he violated. However, The Athletic reported that Vukov was accused of verbally abusing Rybakina.

While the Kazakh tennis star remains loyal to Vukov, some of her top competitors have supported the WTA’s decision. World No. 2 Iga Swiatek believes the ruling should be respected. “I guess everybody needs to respect the decision because we need to trust that the whole process was made with the right rules,” Swiatek said at the Dubai Championships on February 16. “Every personal trainer, every coach, they need to kind of accept the code of conduct when they want to be on WTA. So for sure, I hope the WTA is doing everything to make it a safe environment.”

American No. 3 Coco Gauff also backed the WTA’s stance. “From my understanding, I know she doesn’t like the decision. I know WTA also has the right to protect her. Overall, it’s nice that the WTA is making sure that they’re out there to protect players,” Gauff said. She further explained why strict regulations matter in the sport. “I definitely think that that’s important in our sport because a lot of times if you look, sometimes victims don’t even know they are a victim. In this sport, it’s happened so many times. A lot of times you see former players speaking out years after their career ended how they were treated.”

World No. 5 Jessica Pegula, who is on the WTA Player Council, also weighed in on the issue. “Tennis is just not a healthy sport for women as far as, like, you’re very secluded from a young age. You’re mentally travelling every week. You’re with a lot of different people. A lot of times your family can’t come with you. When you start doing that at ages 13, 14, and 15, it can go sideways fast. We’ve learnt that from a lot of the cases back in the day.”

But how has Elena Rybakina defended her coach?

Elena Rybakina rubbishes rumours of mistreatment amidst WTA’s ban

Despite everything, Elena Rybakina has stood firmly by her coach. “I’m just disappointed with the situation and how the process went,” she said after the ruling. Back in January, when the provisional ban was first issued, she had already defended him. “I can only say, and I’ve said it already before, that he never mistreated me, or it was never anything like that,” she told Brisbane Times on January 4.

She also pushed back against the online backlash directed at Vukov. “I’m not happy with the comments which I see, especially from the people on the tour. It’s active coaches and commentators. I (don’t) think it’s fair,” she said.

Now that she doesn’t have her longtime coach with her – what’s next for Rybakina?

With Vukov banned, the World No.7 made a coaching change, hiring David Sanguinetti in February before the Abu Dhabi Open. She entered the tournament as the defending champion but was eliminated in the semifinals by Belinda Bencic. At the Qatar Open, she couldn’t go deep either, losing in the quarterfinals to Swiatek in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5.

Next up is the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she will open against either Jelena Ostapenko or Moyuka Uchijima. With the coaching drama still unfolding, can she find her rhythm and get back to her best? What do you think?