“I think it’s just now next chapter of my career,” said Elena Rybakina at the pre-tournament press conference of the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November. Following her split with Stefano Vukov ahead of the US Open, Rybakina welcomed Goran Ivanisevic, Novak Djoković’s ex-coach. Their collaboration kick-started with an intensive training session in Dubai ahead of the World Tennis League, where Ivanisevic find tuned Elena’s game. After her successful exhibition outing, the 2022 Wimbledon champion is now looking forward to her debut United Cup. Will a change of coach lead to a bang on second outing? Rybakina is shying away to admit!

Currently, Rybakina is in Perth for the United Cup, an 18-nation tournament that kick starts the 2025 season. Today, Kazakhstan will face Spain in the opening tie with Rybakina being a favorite against 54th-ranked Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. This will be the first real test of Rybakina’s collaboration with Ivanisevic. Especially because this is Goran’s first collaboration with a woman athlete. How is Rybakina feeling about the change of coach? Is it a big change in her head or just another coach?

“Yeah, we did couple weeks together, he’s fun guy,” answered Rybakina in a press conference on the eve of the United Cup. “I mean, still I cannot say much about our work. We definitely did some good preparation. Hopefully you will see on the court”. Rybakina sounds confident, doesn’t she? Has the 53-year-old coach brought any change to her game?

“Well, as I said, it’s still like not so much time pass. I’m getting some experience from him also as a player, how he used to prepare maybe for the matches, tournaments. Same as a coach. Yeah, I’m learning every day. Hopefully, it’s going to go well for both of us.” It all makes sense if one looks at the Croatian coach’s resume both as a player and as a coach:

• 17 years of playing career: 22 ATP Tour singles titles, two bronze medals at the ’92 Summer Olympics, a career-high ranking of number 2 in the world, 2001 Wimbledon title, three QF appearances at Australian Open.
• 13 years of coaching career to present: Coached male ATP players like Marin Čilić (2013–2016), Tomáš Berdych (2016–2017), Milos Raonic (2018–2019) and Novak Djokovic (2019–2024). International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020, led Djokovic to 12 major titles.

Quite a lot for Rybakina to learn as she looks to make up for her last year’s disappointment.

She won only three titles in her first 8 tournaments in 2024 and was sidelined after that because of a back injury and illness. Despite withdrawals from the Paris Olympics, the US Open, and the National Bank Open in Toronto, she made her return to the WTA Finals only to be defeated by World no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on the group stage. However, she is making a debut in the United Cup, where her entire team is a newcomer to the event. Commenting on the debut, she said,

“This is my first time on a team. There are not a lot of team events so I’m hyped about this one. I hope we will have great chances. It’s nice to change the schedule a bit at the start of the year. Here you can face good players, I’m looking forward to the start.” As many would have expected, her United Cup outing was on the button.

Fresh update as of 27th December: Elena Rybakina made a strong start to her United Cup campaign, guiding Kazakhstan to a 2-1 victory over Spain at the RAC Arena in Perth on Friday. The world number six showcased her dominance with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the singles match. Rybakina’s contributions didn’t stop there. She teamed up with Alexander Shevchenko to clinch the deciding mixed doubles match, sealing Kazakhstan’s victory and setting a positive tone for their United Cup journey.

Rybakina’s new coach, Goran Ivanisevic, has already made a positive impact on her career, leading her to two straight wins. However, Ivanisevic believes that one personality change could help Rybakina regain her confidence before the Australian Open.

Ivanisevic pinpoints two specific areas of Rybakina’s game

Rybakina’s former coach, Stefano Vukov, faced criticism for his perceived treatment of her, though Rybakina herself downplayed these criticisms. Now, with Goran Ivanisevic as her new coach, they are focusing on two key areas.

“It’s my first official WTA match. We worked a couple weeks in Dubai. A little bit on the serve. Trying to push her to come to the net more. She has a big game and can finish the point much earlier than she was usually doing. It’s a process. She needs to put in her head that she can play more aggressively, come to the net, and finish some points with the volleys.

“We were wondering if we’re gonna see her get behind herself more and show a bit more emotion? Definitely not going to see her breaking racquets. But hopefully she does show more emotion. She’s a very different person and very calm. But l’ve been trying to put some emotion and I think it’s going to help her game.”

With the Australian Open approaching, Rybakina’s primary goal is to work well with her coach and win the second Grand Slam. Do you think she could do that? Comment down below your thoughts.