Elena Rybakina has admitted she is “not happy” with the ongoing suspension of coach Stefano Vukov as she revealed she was working with Davide Sanguinetti in Abu Dhabi.

World No 5 Rybakina is the top seed at the Abu Dhabi Open and is looking to claim back-to-back titles at the WTA 500 event, having beaten Daria Kasatkina in the final a year ago.

It will be the Kazakh’s first tournament since the Australian Open, where she was beaten in the fourth round by eventual champion Madison Keys.

Rybakina’s campaign in Melbourne was overshadowed by controversy surrounding her coach Vukov, who she initially split with last summer.

She announced in January that the Croatian was rejoining her set-up, alongside Goran Ivanisevic – who had joined her entourage in the pre-season.

However, reporting from The Athletic revealed that Vukov was suspended by the WTA Tour amid an investigation into an alleged breach of their code of conduct.

As a consequence of the investigation, the 37-year-old is currently suspended from receiving coaching accreditation at any WTA event.

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Rybakina has staunchly defended Vukov since news of the suspension was made public.

And, in quotes from AFP, the former Wimbledon champion claimed that the saga had not been “handled well” – and that she was “not happy” with the investigation.

She added: “I don’t know much. It’s a situation I’m not happy with. It is what it is, but for now I don’t know much.

“I think safeguarding is important but the case with what happened with us I don’t think it was handled well.

“At the end of the day, I think you need to listen to the player, that’s the most important.

“Because as I said before there are a lot of comments from people which are also in our environment but they’re making comments not knowing me, not knowing him, and it’s just making a bad look for everyone.”

Amid the controversy and following her Australian Open exit, Rybakina and Ivanisevic ended their short-lived partnership.

She has now confirmed that she is working with former ATP Tour star Sanguinetti, who has previously coached the likes of former world No 1 Dinara Safina.

Speaking ahead of her Abu Dhabi campaign – where she has an opening-round bye – Rybakina revealed she was still in regular contact with Vukov.

Before their initial split in August 2024, the two had been working together for five years.

“He’s an important person in my career,” said Rybakina of Vukov.

“We started when I was like 200 [in WTA Rankings]. So it’s a lot of things, on the court, outside of the court, he’s helping out with.

“I feel like of course it’s not ideal that he cannot be on the practice courts but at the same time we are finding a way also with help of Davide, his opinion.

“I hope it’s going to work out. We have a good team in the end of the day.”

Rybakina will face one of two qualifiers, Sonay Kartal or Katie Volynets, in the opening match of her title defence.

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