Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina won the WTA Finals on Sunday, beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7-0) in Saudi Arabia. Apart from the sensational win, the other major talking point that emerged post the victory was her refusal to get involved with the celebrations, including not taking a photo with WTA chief Portia Archer.
The 26-year-old stood separate from both her opponent and Archer during the post-match celebrations, despite being asked to join them.
While Rybakina did not wish to divulge the reason behind not taking the photo with Archer, a possible cause could be an incident involving her coach, Stefano Vukov, who was suspended earlier in February after he was found to have breached the WTA’s code of conduct.
The suspension was succeeded by an independent investigation into his behaviour towards Rybakina, who insisted that Vukov had not conducted himself in an inappropriate manner.
The 38-year-old also denied any inappropriate behaviour on his part, and six months later, was cleared of any wrongdoing in August and was present at the venue on Sunday to watch her win the WTA Finals title.
Among those who had raised concerns about Vukov’s behaviour towards Rybakina was the former multiple-time Grand Slam winner Pam Shriver. The 63-year-old had taken to X (formerly Twitter) in 2023 to say that she hoped Rybakina would find a coach who speaks and treats her with respect all the time.
After the 26-year-old’s win, Shriver took a jibe at Rybakina’s behaviour after winning the WTA Final title.
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“Imagine winning more prize money in one tournament than the entire ‘Original 9’ over their collective careers, then dissing [the] WTA CEO because the CEO has tried to ensure stronger safeguards in your sports… it’s hard to imagine,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Imagine winning more prize money in one tournament than the entire Original Nine over their collective careers, then dissing WTA CEO because the CEO has tried to ensure stronger safeguards in your sports… it’s hard to imagine.
— Pam Shriver (@PHShriver) November 9, 2025
Rybakina said on Sunday that talks between her and the WTA had not materialised yet.
“I think we’re all doing our job and we had the opportunity to have conversations, but in the end it never happened. So we’re all doing our job and I think we’re going to keep it this way,” she told AFP.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
