Eurosport tennis reporter Reem Abulleil has revealed that she’ll now start working with the Croatian icon once the 2024 season is over. Ivanisevic, 53, has been out of tennis since splitting with Djokovic in March this year.

He had served on Djokovic’s team since 2018, and became his official head coach in 2022. During their time together, the all-time great won 12 Grand Slam titles, taking his overall tally to a record breaking 24.

Like Rybakina, Ivanisevic has one Slam title at SW19 to his name. Having lost in three previous finals, he famously defeated Pat Rafter on a Monday final in 2001. He’d beaten Tim Henman in the semi-finals in a weather-affected contest, famously declaring afterwards: “God brought down the rain.”

Rybakina is still currently ranked fifth in the world, but has withdrawn from several tournaments this year, including the Korea Open, China Open and Wuhan Open. She’s cited illness and injury, but speculation has been rife that issues with her former coach were a contributing factor.

The likes of Pam Shriver had previously urged the star to sack him, the American arguing the player needed someone who treated her with ‘respect’. Rybakina responded by publicly defending the Russian.

“Unlike people that are making these comments, he has great knowledge about me as a player and an athlete,” she said. “I would never accept a coach that didn’t respect me. Please disregard any fake news to the contrary.”

Ivanisevic will at used be well accustomed to the expectations on Rybakina, having opened up on the pressures of coaching Djokovic following their split. “Well, when you train Novak Djokovic, anything other than winning the title at any tournament is a failure,” he said.

“That’s a lot of pressure to deal with. Novak is very demanding. Every day something new has to happen, he always wants to be better. If you can’t handle it, it’s better not to take the job at all. But I enjoyed my time working with Novak.”