By Harry Poole
BBC Sport journalist
After securing the biggest payday in women’s tennis history, Elena Rybakina declined to pose for a photo with WTA Tour chief executive Portia Archer.
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at the WTA Finals on Saturday. The Kazakh, now fifth in the world after the victory, earned £3.98m in prize money. During the post-match celebrations she stood apart from Sabalenka and Archer, despite being asked to join them.
When asked why she refused the photo, Rybakina declined to explain. The incident comes after a season in which the WTA suspended her coach Stefano Vukov following an independent investigation that found breaches of the WTA’s code of conduct.
Vukov was provisionally suspended earlier in the year and denied accreditation at the Australian Open after Rybakina initially wanted him back in her team. Rybakina has said she did not “agree with a lot of things” the WTA was doing regarding her relationship with Vukov and has maintained she was never mistreated by the 38-year-old Croat. Vukov denied wrongdoing and had his ban lifted in August; he was present at the WTA Finals as Rybakina won the title.
Concerns about Vukov’s behaviour have been voiced by figures such as coach and commentator Pam Shriver, who has called for safer coaching practices across the sport. Shriver, a 21-time Grand Slam doubles champion, posted on X in 2023 that she hoped Rybakina “finds a coach who speaks and treats her with respect at all times”. After the WTA Finals, Shriver wrote: “Imagine winning more prize money in one tournament than the entire ‘Original 9’ over their collective careers, then dissing [the] WTA CEO because the CEO has tried to ensure stronger safeguards in your sports… it’s hard to imagine.”
Rybakina worked with Vukov from her teens, briefly split with him before last year’s US Open, then sought his return in January. Despite his provisional suspension preventing accreditation at Melbourne, Rybakina said in February that Vukov was still helping her “a lot of things, on the court, outside of the court”.
Asked on Sunday whether she had reconciled with the WTA after Vukov’s return, Rybakina told AFP: “I think we’re all doing our job and we had the opportunity to have conversations, but in the end it never happened. So we’re all doing our job and I think we’re going to keep it this way.” She added she preferred to keep the reason for not joining the ceremonial photo with Archer private.
The WTA declined to comment when contacted by BBC Sport. BBC Sport has also approached Rybakina for comment.
This article is from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.
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