Elena Rybakina prepares a serve to Leylah Fernandez within the girls’s singles spherical 2 in the course of the Cincinnati Open, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, on the Lindner Household Tennis Heart in Mason. World No. 5 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan introduced the hiring Friday of Novak Djokovic’s former coach, Goran Ivanisevic, for the 2025 season.
Rybakina, 25, break up with longtime coach Stefano Vukov this summer season. The 2022 Wimbledon champion is an eight-time winner on the WTA Tour, together with three titles in 2024.
Djokovic ended a five-year run with Ivanisevic in March that included 9 of his report 24 Grand Slam titles.
Ivanisevic, 53, is a member of the Worldwide Tennis Corridor of Fame with 22 ATP Tour titles together with Wimbledon in 2001.
“I am actually wanting ahead to this partnership,” Rybakina informed reporters forward of the WTA Finals, which start on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “I believe he is an awesome champion and he has a lot expertise, and I am wanting ahead to beginning.
“For me, it was necessary to get higher, and with the assistance of the brokers, we linked and we simply determined to begin working. … In fact, it is a large change, however I believe it may be a great change.”
Ivanisevic commented on his new shopper on Instagram. “Enthusiastic about coming again on Tour. This time, it is time for some WTA motion,” he wrote. “Joyful to affix your crew Elena Rybakina.”
Rybakina handled accidents and sickness over the summer season, withdrawing from the Paris Olympics with bronchitis and exiting the U.S. Open with a lower-back concern after her first-round win.
She begins play on the WTA Finals on Saturday in opposition to fourth-ranked Jasmine Paolini of Italy.
–Area Stage Media