Following her achievement of securing the most substantial financial reward in the history of women’s tennis, Elena Rybakina opted not to participate in a photograph alongside Portia Archer, the Chief Executive Officer of the WTA Tour.
Rybakina, the victor at Wimbledon in 2022, achieved a straight-sets victory against Aryna Sabalenka, the current world number one, at the WTA Finals held on Saturday.
However, the 26-year-old Kazakh athlete, who advanced to fifth position in the global rankings following her triumph – which yielded £3.98m in winnings – chose to remain separate from both Sabalenka and Archer during the celebrations that followed the match, despite an invitation to join them.
The reason?
Rybakina chose not to reveal the motivation behind her decision, although this event occurred after a season in which the WTA imposed a sanction on her coach, Stefano Vukov.
Vukov faced a suspension earlier in the year due to a violation of the WTA’s code of conduct, which was determined by an independent inquiry into his interactions with the player.
During the Australian Open in January, Rybakina expressed her dissatisfaction with the WTA, stating that she “did not agree with many aspects” of the organization’s handling of her professional association with Vukov.
Rybakina has consistently affirmed that she has never experienced mistreatment from the 38-year-old Croatian coach.
Vukov refuted any allegations of misconduct and, following the revocation of his suspension in August, was present to witness Rybakina’s success at the tour’s concluding tournament of the season.
