When Riyadh began, I wrote that the unifying theme among its players’ 2025 seasons was resilience. Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Amanda Anisinova, and others had all watched their games unravel at some point, before bouncing back to win bigger.
I didn’t put Elena Rybakina on that list, but now it looks like I should have.
It may seem like years ago now, but she started 2025 at the center of controversy. With her coach, Stefano Vukov, in danger of being banned from the tour for allegedly abusive behavior, she hired Goran Ivanisevic, only to turn around and invite Vukov to join them in Australia. That was too much chaos even for Goran, who wished her luck and went on his way.
That was a lot of early-season turmoil, both emotional and professional, for a player to endure, and Rybakina never really got on track afterward. A two-time Grand Slam finalist, she failed to make the quarters at any of the four majors, and her coaching situation remained unresolved. Finally, Vukov was cleared to return in August, and she brought him back on board right away. That seemed to help, but she still had to make an 11th-hour title run in Ningbo last month to squeak into Riyadh as the final qualifier.
“This season was challenging,” Rybakina said as the WTA Finals got underway. “I won’t say it was my best season definitely. But I’m happy that in the end I qualified also and I’m here. I played full season. Didn’t skip much. Played a lot. But, of course, I had better results in the previous years.”
