Elena Rybakina has joined a handful of fellow WTA Tour stars in making a big change to her coaching team.
Coco Gauff recently partnered with Matt Daly, having split with Brad Gilbert after a disappointing US Open title defence.
Iga Swiatek meanwhile has hired Wim Fissette, with Naomi Osaka recently joining forces with Patrick Mouratoglou.
Rybakina has now partnered with Goran Ivanisevic, who had previously worked with ATP Tour star Novak Djokovic.
The WTA ace, who is ranked fifth in the world, will link up with the 2001 Wimbledon champion from the 2025 season.
Rybakina is currently in Riyadh for the WTA Finals, where she is playing in the Purple Group with Aryna Sabalenka, Jasmine Paolini and Qinwen Zheng.
Her decision to join forces with Ivanisevic has certainly caught the eye of Andy Roddick, who told Tennis Channel: “I was surprised, but I shouldn’t have been, right? I think we’d become a little narrow-minded with Goran only working with men, so we didn’t even have his name in the conversation.
READ MORE: Goran Ivanisevic reacts on social media after becoming Elena Rybakina’s new coach
“But if you think about it, past my own ignorance, okay, both big servers who can hit all spots on the court, who has Goran worked with? He’s hit with big flat hitters that like to go through the court, right? With [Marin] Cilic and Djokovic.
“And what does Rybakina need? Maybe a little bit of levity in her box, maybe someone that actually has a sense of humour every once in a while. So on merit it seems like an unbelievable fit, it’s certainly exciting. And also when you get to a certain level, you want to be able to talk to someone who’s done it before.
“We’ve seen kind of a decade of these accomplished coaches who have won slams in their own right. So this makes a ton of sense, and it’s exciting. It’s always good to have a little bit of buzz in your corner coming off of something that maybe didn’t turn out so well.”
The WTA Finals are already underway in Saudi Arabia, and unfortunately for Rybakina, she has already lost to Paolini.
Italian star Paolini, who lost the French Open and Wimbledon finals this season, beat her opponent 7-6(7-5), 6-4.
Ivanisevic may have tuned into the match as he looks to get a head start on his new role for 2025, with the duo set to be eager to clinch Grand Slam success together.
READ MORE: WTA Finals 2024: How to watch, prize money, dates, prediction and everything you need to know
Rybakina won her one and only major title at Wimbledon in 2022, with that silverware coming under her former coach Stefano Vukov.
Ivanisevic meanwhile certainly knows all about what it takes to win such titles, having helped Djokovic to 12 of his 14 Grand Slam successes.
The Croatian coach also even helped his compatriot Cilic win his only ever major title at the 2014 US Open.
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