Goran Ivanisevic reveals shocking Elena Rybakina coaching separation amid Stefano Vukov dispute

Ivanisevic’s departure comes in the aftermath of Rybakina’s shock move to rehire Vukov, who she previously worked with between 2019 and 2024, at the start of the season.

In a post on his Instagram account on Tuesday, Ivanisevic announced he would no longer be coaching Rybakina moving forward.

“After our trial period that finished with Australian Open, I wish Elena and her team best of luck moving forward,” the 2001 Wimbledon champion wrote.

On January 1, Rybakina revealed that Vukov would be rejoining her team for the 2025 season just months after the pair’s split.

The day after Rybakina’s announcement, The Athletic reported that Vukov had been suspended by the WTA Tour amid an investigation into a breach of their code of conduct.

Vukov did not receive accreditation for the Australian Open, with Tennis Australia upholding the WTA’s provisional suspension. The WTA is yet to announce the outcome of the investigation.

Vukov denies breaching the WTA’s code of conduct, while Rybakina has repeatedly said that the Croatian has “never mistreated” her.

After losing to Keys, Rybakina confirmed she had spoken to Vukov — who travelled to Melbourne — between matches as she addressed his absence from her coaching box.

“Well definitely — as I said before, this is not the situation I want to be or someone wants to be in,” the 25-year-old said in her post-match press conference.

“Of course, I want to have who I want in the box, but I couldn’t change it.

“At the end of the day, I just tried to focus on my matches, and I spoke with him.”

Ivansevic’s decision does not come as a surprise after he hinted prior to the tournament that he may step down in the wake of the Vukov situation.

“Really, it’s not good for anybody,” the former world No 2 said.

“Listen, the investigation is still on, so we wait for WTA to finish, and then I can talk about everything. But until then… I spoke to Elena; I told her what I think.

“I am, for the moment, here. What’s going to happen in a couple of days, I don’t know. But for the moment, I am here. Hopefully I will stay, and hopefully everything is going to be OK. But let’s take day by day.

“Listen, I don’t want to… It’s a very strange situation. So I don’t want to, really. I can talk to you after WTA makes the decision, and then we can.”

Ivanisevic is one of the most highly-regarded coaches in tennis after his massively successful collaboration with Novak Djokovic, which lasted from 2019 to 2024 and saw the Serbian win nine Grand Slam titles.

The 2001 Wimbledon champion also coached Croatian compatriot Marin Cilic to a surprise victory at the 2014 US Open.