By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Picture credit score: Corleve/Mark Peterson
A high-profile reunion will spark a simultaneous cut up, ESPN analyst Rennae Stubbs predicts.
Final week, Elena Rybakina introduced her plan to reunite with former coach Stefano Vukov as assistant coach to her new coach, Goran Ivanisevic.
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In a Zoom name with the media at present to advertise ESPN’s Australian Open protection beginning on Sunday, Stubbs advised Tennis Now if Vukov, who’s serving a WTA suspension that may deny him a credential for the Australian Open, does certainly return, then Coach Goran seemingly walks.
“I believe Goran, additionally being on the ladies’s facet [is interesting], and he’s now having to deal now with this Rybakina state of affairs,” Stubbs advised Tennis Now. “With the outdated coach [coming back]. So I don’t know the way lengthy Goran’s gonna stick round if that state of affairs goes to happen.
“You already know I’m listening to rumblings and I doubt [Goran] goes to stay round if that’s the case. So we’ll see what occurs there.”
Unique ESPN Australian Open protection kicks off within the U.S. on Saturday, January eleventh, with the First Spherical streaming dwell at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and introduced at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2, two hours sooner than in 2024.
Each day encore displays shall be obtainable on ESPN2, with Quarterfinal encore displays expanded to 4 hours per day.
After Rybakina’s announcement of Vukov’s return, The Athletic broke the information that Vukov is serving a provisional suspension that stops him from receiving a training credential for this month’s Australian Open.
Some coaches and commentators, together with Pam Shriver and Stubbs, have criticized Vukov for his remedy of Rybakina.
World No. 6 Rybakina mentioned Vukov has not mistreated her—and reiterated she’s not comfortable seeing important feedback from different coaches.
“In fact I am probably not proud of the state of affairs. I am not proud of the feedback which I see, particularly from the people who find themselves on the tour,” Rybakina advised the media at United Cup in Sydney. “It is energetic coaches, commentators. I do not assume that it is truthful.
“Yeah, however the one factor I can say is, like, he by no means mistreated me. I’ve respect to him for all the pieces he did from the very starting after I was 200 all the way in which what we did, like, I do not know. You may identify me different coaches who had the identical success with gamers who’ve been 200 after which profitable Grand Slam and being within the prime.”
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