Former Russian tennis star Anna Chakvetadze claims Goran Ivanisevic spoke very highly of Elena Rybakina's game during their off-camera conversation but also expressed disbelief over the 26-year-old not achieving far more grass success so far.
When Rybakina hired Ivanisevic for the 2025 season, the partnership drew major attention and Novak Djokovic's former long-time coach was publicly stating that he was determined to lead the WTA star to some great things. But the excitement didn't last long after the Croatian coach got upset with the return of Stefano Vukov and decided to leave the Kazakh's team the very next day after she concluded her Australian Open run.
Chakvetadze, a former world No. 8, appeared on a podcast with former three-time Grand Slam finalist Safina. At one point during their conversation, the former Russian tennis star said that Ivanisevic privately told her he was surprised that Rybakina only had one Wimbledon title in her collection.
“When we interviewed Goran Ivanisevic, he said off-camera, ‘I don’t understand, she (Elena) has such an amazing game, she should be winning more tournaments on grass, not one Wimbledon but three to four at least,” Chakvetadze said on a podcast with fellow former Russian WTA star Dinara Safina.
What Ivanisevic said about his split Rybakina?
During a podcast appearance with football coach Slaven Bilic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion admitted that some things happened in Rybakina's team and that he "did not want to be a part" of that.
“Unfortunately, some things happened off the court that I couldn’t control and I didn’t want to be a part of that and part of that story and then I decided that it was best to quit. I wish her all the best in her career," the 53-year-old said at the time.
Ivanisevic has since worked with Stefanos Tsitsipas and they lasted only two tournaments. On the other side, Rybakina hired Davide Sanguinetti in February.
