Stefano Vukov: We're all working towards Elena Rybakina's goal of becoming World No.1

Stefano Vukov, the coach of WTA star Elena Rybakina, says the Kazakh player's goal is to become World No. 1 in the future and he believes she can get there.

The 20 year old Rybakina is currently ranked No. 17 in the world after reaching six WTA finals and winning 2 of them.

Speaking to Al Khaleej Today, Vukov says, "She’s very calm and very easy to work with as well. As I see it, she is potentially a top-10 player to start with. But Elena’s goal is to be the world number one, and we are all working towards that. She’s made six WTA finals and won two titles, along the way defeating some of the top-10 players. For me, this is simply magnificent as she’s got great attitude and she is able to assimilate a lot of information and transfer that on the court straightaway. There aren’t many like her at the moment."

The Kazakh player has had a solid start to the 2020 season, winning in Hobart and reaching the final in Dubai prior to the tennis shutdown.

“Our work is always concentrated on getting better each day. We just expect to improve and continue this improvement. The results, both of us feel, will be due to all the hard work that we put in on the court. I always tell her that she shouldn’t focus on the end results, but just take things step by step on how to improve and accept whatever comes her way.”

Vukov is currently in London during the shutdown while Rybakina is in Moscow and he says he is trying to keep her motivated during this time.

“It can be very tough to stay motivated, especially when you are young. But I feel that for her the age really doesn’t matter. I believe she will be at her best, whenever tennis starts again. I feel it’s a good time for her to spend with her family as she wasn’t too much with them the past few years now. This season, she’s already played 25 matches, so this pandemic time will give her a real big break both mentally and physically. I feel she was already close to breaking into the top-10, had she got a chance to play in Indian Wells and Miami in March, as she didn’t have many points to defend in both places. She is young and hungry to start playing again. She is very motivated and she’s been following the diet provided by the nutritionist. I have various fitness routines that she’s following in addition to special vision exercises that she can do from home by herself."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/35OneRj