Archive of posts tagged Elena

Coach Davide Sanguinetti reveals his honest approach to Elena Rybakina

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Australian Open

Davide Sanguinetti says he definitely has a different approach to WTA players because female athletes are "more sensitive" and therefore he has to be a bit softer in his methods. 

In January, Elena Rybakina went through a very tumultuous period when she decided to bring back Stefano Vukov to her team – that didn't sit well with Goran Ivanisevic at all – who left the Kazakh's team as soon as she finished her Australian Open campaign. To make it all worse for the 26-year-old, the WTA concluded their investigation into Vukov's behavior and he was handed a one-year ban from coaching.

Following the Vukov ban news, Rybakina hired former Italian tennis player Sanguinetti. In the past, the Italian worked with Dinara Safina, Vincent Spadea, Go Soeda, and Brandon Nakashima. As you probably know, Safina played her last pro match in 2011 so a lot of time passed between the last time that Sanguinetti coached on the WTA Tour.

Rybakina's coach Sanguinetti: We definitely need to be more sensitive to girls

"We definitely need to be more sensitive to girls, who have different ways of interacting. It was new to me; I'm learning and adapting," the Italian coach said on Italian channel Supertennis.

One of the reasons why Ivanisevic left Rybakina's team was the fact that he thought he would be the lone coach in her team. But after she decided to bring back Vukov after all the controversies that surrounded them, Ivanisevic decided it simply wasn't worth it. 

When Sanguinetti arrived in the 26-year-old's team, he was directly asked how he felt about Vukov. And he confirmed that he was fine with Vukov. 

"Vukov and Elena are close, he will always be there. Stefano and I talk a lot, we are on the same wavelength. It’s not a problem to have two coaches, it’s almost a trend now," the 52-year-old said in February.

Meanwhile, Rybakina is in the midst of a great Montreal run, where she made the semifinal.

Elena Rybakina indicates she is managing some niggles amid promising Montreal run

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Elena

Elena Rybakina indicates she is dealing with some slight physical issues but suggests everything is under control and she is ready for the remainder of Montreal and the North American hard-court swing.

On Saturday, the Kazakh – who is currently ranked at No. 12 in the world and seeded at No. 9 at the Canadian Open – survived a two-hour and 33-minute battle versus No. 30 seed Dayana Yastremska 5-7 6-2 7-5 to reach the quarterfinal.

For Rybakina, that was already her sixth match on hard courts this summer. Before coming to Montreal, the former world No. 3 reached the Washington semifinal before losing to Leylah Fernandez.

"Well, of course, a little bit getting tired of my issues, but we're managing. Overall I'm happy that I'm ready to play these long matches. I think it's a good preparation for US Open in the end of the day," the 26-year-old said when asked how she was physically feeling.

Rybakina comments on facing Marta Kostyuk next in Montreal

Next up for Rybakina will be a career-fourth meeting against world No. 28 Kostyuk. Two and a half years ago, Kostyuk won their first match at the Adelaide International. Since then, they have met two more times, with the Kazakh winning on the ending side at the 2023 US Open and 2024 Stuttgart. 

While the 2022 Wimbledon champion won their last two meetings routinely in straight sets, she insists that she expects "a tough battle" against the Ukrainian.

"We played a couple of times. So different surface, but it's always tough battle. There is noisy matches, that's for sure. I will try to focus on myself. I know that she's really fighter, and she's really physically tough opponent. So yeah, I will try to do my best and hopefully can win that match," the Kazakh said of facing Kostyuk.

In the past, Rybakina made the Montreal semifinal in 2023.