Tennis star Elena Rybakina's longtime coach, Stefano Vukov, has been handed a one-year ban after the WTA concluded an investigation into allegations of abuse against him. As a result of the investigation, Vukov will not be able to coach or obtain credentials of any kind for any professional tennis event, according to Charlie Eccleshare and Matthew Futterman of The Athletic.

“The WTA confirms that the independent investigation into a potential breach of the WTA Code of Conduct by Stefano Vukov has concluded,” the WTA Tour said in a statement, per Eccleshare and Futterman. “Following this process, the suspension remains in place. To protect the confidentiality and integrity of the investigation and its findings, the WTA will not provide further details. We remain committed to ensuring that all matters are handled in a fair and objective manner in accordance with the WTA Code of Conduct.”

Rybakina and Vukov worked together for about five years before they parted ways before the 2024 U.S. Open in August. On January 1 of this year, before Rybakina started her season at the United Cup in Australia, she posted on social media that Vukov would be returning to her team before news of the provisional suspension and the ongoing investigation broke. Days later, Rybakina denied the abuse allegations in the press.

The investigation concluded that Vukov had committed verbal and psychological abuse against Rybakina, causing her to cry and get very ill on a frequent basis, which was a common reason for her pulling out of tournaments during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

In 2024 alone, Rybakina handed over an astonishing eight walkovers or retirements, with five of those coming due to illness. She was unable to defend her 2023 WTA 1000 titles at Indian Wells (California) and Rome due to illness and also pulled out of the Paris Olympics and WTA 1000 events in Dubai and Toronto for the same reason. A lower back injury forced her out of the U.S. Open, just days after her split with Vukov, prior to the second round.

The investigation also concluded that Vukov harassed Rybakina with text messages at the 2024 U.S. Open after the split and that the two shared a room together during the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Rybakina, currently the No. 7-ranked player in the world, started the season with Goran Ivanisevic as her coach. Ivanisevic is a former Wimbledon champion like Rybakina and coached Novak Djokovic for nearly five years, but he quit the role after Rybakina's fourth-round loss to eventual champion Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January. She is now working with Italian Davide Sanguinetti.

Rybakina won her Round of 32 match against Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-4 at the WTA 1000 event in Qatar on Tuesday morning before the news dropped, although Eccleshare and Futterman say she was informed of this decision on January 31. She will play Slovakian Rebecca Sramkova for a spot in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.