Elena Rybakina has taken a bold route, going against what the governing bodies and public opinion suggest to team up again with her former coach, Stefano Vukov. So, this decision is happening even though the WTA looked into things and found Vukov guilty of “abusive conduct” and “abuse of authority” towards the 2022 Wimbledon champion, which led to his one-year suspension.

Rybakina, who has always had Vukov’s back, openly called out the WTA for how they’ve dealt with the situation and brought him back onto her team. Her strong loyalty has put her at odds with the tour’s leadership and split the tennis world, making her late-season comeback in 2025 feel like a bold statement of independence.

In the midst of all this tension, as reported by championat.com, former WTA star Elena Vesnina, who’s a doubles Grand Slam champion and an Olympic gold medalist, recently shared her thoughts. She believes that Rybakina’s success on the court is closely tied to Vukov’s return. “I think Elena has calmed down because she’s got someone back who knows her very well, knows her strengths and weaknesses, and understands how to, so to speak, awaken her,” Vesnina said.

She mentioned how Rybakina has this naturally calm and thoughtful vibe, which can lead her to kind of zone out mentally during matches sometimes. Vesnina thinks that Vukov has some pretty unique, even if a bit unconventional, ways to tackle this issue.

“Because I think Elena, due to her somewhat phlegmatic temperament, can sometimes seem to retreat into herself and reflect. And Stefano Vukov knows how to bring her back to the right state with his own methods: ‘So, you’re on the court. You’re winning, come on, you’re a machine, you’re working,'” Vesnina said.

After Vukov got reinstated in August when his ban was lifted on appeal, Rybakina’s performance really changed for the better. She put together some impressive performances at the Canadian and Cincinnati Opens before taking home the title at the Ningbo Open. The highlight of this comeback happened at the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh, where Rybakina wrapped up her year by beating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final to take home the prestigious championship.

The debate really revolves around the tricky balance between taking care of athletes, respecting their choices, and the outcomes of competition. But you know, Rybakina also pulled off something pretty impressive this season.

Elena Rybakina shattered a massive record

As the 2025 WTA season wrapped up, if we check out the aces, you’ll find Elena Rybakina right at the top. Her serve really earned her the title of this year’s “Ace Queen.” She managed to hit 516 aces, which is way more than any other woman out there. So, the players right behind them were Linda Noskova with 373, Clara Tauson at 358, Ekaterina Alexandrova with 339, and Naomi Osaka sitting at 307.

Rybakina was the only player to hit over 500 aces this year. Well,  Rybakina has made history by being the first woman in nine years to hit over 500 aces in a single season! The last time someone did that was Karolina Pliskova back in 2015 with 517 and then again in 2016 with 530. Pretty impressive, right? She averaged 6.79 aces per match, managing to hit at least 0.5 aces in 96% of her matches, 1.5 aces in 94%, 2.5 in 93%, and over 3.5 in 81% of them.

In those challenging matches, she consistently managed to hit 6 or more aces, proving that her serve was a real strength. She wrapped up the season with an impressive 59-19 record, and she had a perfect performance at the WTA Finals.

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