Goran Ivanisevic wishes Elena Rybakina “best of luck moving forward” as coaching trial ends

Elena Rybakina and Goran Ivanisevic will not move forward with their collaboration after two tour-level events together.

Ivanisevic confirmed the test phase had ended on his Instagram story Tuesday with a brief message.

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

The outcome isn’t a surprising one, given what transpired in the lead-up to the Melbourne major. Rybakina revealed in early January that she was bringing back former coach Stefan Vukov as a team member, a move that caught Ivanisevic by surprise.

Vukov traveled to Australia, but was barred from being credentialed while under a provisional WTA suspension amid an ongoing investigation for breaching the tour’s Code of Conduct. He and Rybakina parted ways just before the 2024 US Open, where the Kazakh ultimately withdrew ahead of her second-round match due to injuries.

After our trial period that finished with Australian Open, I wish Elena and her team the best of luck moving forward. Goran Ivanisevic

Before her first match at Melbourne Park, Rybakina commented, “people who are not so close to the tennis world, they just see the comments and then they're picking it up, make even more show out of this. I don't think it's fair, too.“

Under Ivanisevic, Rybakina went 6-2 across the United Cup and the season’s opening major. On Monday, the 2022 Wimbledon champion was eliminated by Madison Keys in the fourth round of the Australian Open, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

When asked about the future arrangement with Ivanisevic in her post-match press conference, Rybakina said at the time, “We just tried the pre-season, and these couple of tournaments it was something just getting used to each other. We will definitely talk how the next schedule is going to look like.”