Novak Djokovic’s Ex-Coach Unveils Plans to Propel Elena Rybakina as He Makes His Thoughts Clear on the Collaboration

Russian-born Kazakhstani player Elena Rybakina is back on track. After a roller coaster season filled with ups and downs, the WTA star has finally renewed her form, crediting much of her renewal to her new coach, Goran Ivanisevic. From its inception, Rybakina and Ivanisevic’s partnership generated significant buzz within the tennis fraternity. Now, the popular coach has shared his insights on how he plans to elevate Rybakina’s playstyle, sparking excitement about the potential fireworks in Kazakh player’s 2025 season.

Rybakina appointed Novak Djokovic’s former coach and a former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic in November. Before appointing Ivanisevic, the Russian-born Kazakhstani player was mentored by Stefano Vukov for five years. However, the Rybakina-Vukov partnership ended before the US Open, and the Kazakh player’s work under Ivanisevic started on a positive note in Dubai. This WTA star’s team Game Changers Falcons secured the World Tennis League exhibition tournament trophy. Despite that, Rybakina’s singles performance drew mixed reactions from the fraternity. Interstingly, Rybakina’s coach offered an optimistic perspective about her performance in Dubai. Sharing a snippet of their teamwork on IG, Ivanisevic wrote, “Great first [two] weeks of preseason in Dubai. Let’s keep it up.” Ahead of her performance in the 2025 United Cup, Ivanisevic laid bare his plans about working with the Kazakh so that she can finish more points at the net.

“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,” said Ivanisevic during Tennis Channel’s broadcast of United Cup. The coach also highlighted how he tries to bring out Rybakina’s emotions thinking that it might help her performance. “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,” concluded Ivanisevic. 

This coach’s partnership with Rybakina surprised the fraternity since Ivanisevic has never worked with a female athlete before her. However, since the news of their collaboration received the spotlight, it immediately renewed the fraternity’s hope for the Kazakh player’s potential and improvement in the future. For example, Andy Roddick recently spoke about how Ivanisevic might work wonders for Rybakina’s form highlighting how this coach might help Rybakina find her joy in the sport.

Andy Roddick sees great potential in Elena Rybakina’s partnership with Goran Ivanisevic

In a discussion with journalist Jon Wertheim in his podcast, Roddick highlighted his faith in the Rybakina-Ivanisevic partnership. “I like this partnership just be basically because Goren has a sense of humor. It’s it absolutely flies in the face of what you think and what you’ve heard that her life must have been like in her previous coaching relationship. So I hope she finds that space. I hope she finds that joy,” said the former American pro. Roddick hinted at Rybakina’s feud with her former coach during her Cincinnati Open match. This scene shocked the world as people couldn’t fathom Vukov’s behavior towards the WTA star and that too during an ongoing match. However, those days are gone in the past. Now, we have signs for something good.

Elena Rybakina’s recent performance highlights how useful it has been for her to work with an eminent coach like Goran Ivanisevic. Following Ivanisevic’s guidance, this Kazakh player is improving physically and emotionally offering immense potential for the 2025 season. What do you think of her chances?