Elena Rybakina has described herself as satisfied by the return of her coach Stefano Vukov as she produced an imperious performance at the Cincinnati Open, dismantling Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1 and defending champion, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, put together a performance of the highest quality on Friday afternoon as she served efficiently and completely overpowered one of the most destructive shotmakers in the world.
Until the past few weeks, Vukov had been banned from coaching at WTA tournaments and the grand slam events after the WTA found that he had engaged in abusive conduct towards Rybakina. His suspension was lifted upon appeal, allowing him to train with and support her onsite throughout the past two weeks in Cincinnati. “It’s great that he’s here in the box, finally, so it’s a good thing,” she said.
Since Vukov’s suspension, Rybakina had repeatedly expressed her frustration about the ban and she was critical of the WTA. After he was provisionally suspended in January pending the outcome of its investigation, Rybakina said: “I don’t agree with a lot of things what the WTA do in the sense of my relationship with Stefano. As I said before, I have never made any complaints or any of these things. I always said that he never mistreated me.”
Although he was banned from receiving credentials to tournaments, Vukov continued to train with Rybakina away from events. She has been working with the Italian former player Davide Sanguinetti since February. This week, Vukov and Sanguinetti have been providing her with advice in training and matches.
During her post-match press conference, Rybakina opted not to speak in depth about her work with Vukov. Asked about how helpful it has been to have him onsite again, she responded curtly: “It’s always a help when the whole team is here with me.”
Elena Rybakina talks to coach Stefano Vukov in the stands while playing against Aryna Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open. Photograph: Robert Prange/Getty Images
Another significant match awaits Rybakina as she rekindles her rivalry with the third seed Iga Swiatek, who remains in excellent form since her Wimbledon victory and defeated the 28th seed Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-4 to advance into the semi-finals.
Later on Friday, the men’s second seed Carlos Alcaraz held firm against a quality performance from Andrey Rublev, the 11th seed, as he narrowly reached the semi-final with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win.
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“Today I maintained the positive thoughts all the time even though I lost focus a few times in the match in the second set,” said Alcaraz. “That game serving that he broke me, I lost a few points that playing in matches against someone like Andrey, when you lose the focus for two or three points, it costs you the set or almost the match.”
Although Alcaraz has not been at his best this week in Cincinnati, he continues to show his growing maturity in the decisive moments. Here, Alcaraz initially appeared to weather the storm as he broke serve for a 5-3 third-set lead but he missed a slew of first serves as he attempted to serve out the match and quickly found himself back at 5-5. Despite missing his first opportunity, Alcaraz maintained his composure and closed out the victory.
Alcaraz will face either Ben Shelton or Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals. He and Jannik Sinner are again one round away from facing each other in what would be their fourth consecutive final against each other.