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Rennae Stubbs claims Stefano Vukov threatened to take legal action against her after she publicly called him out for the way he coaches Elena Rybakina.
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For years, there had been complaints about the 37-year-old coach's behavior, with some even alleging that he was abusive towards the Kazakh tennis star.
However, the 2022 Wimbledon champion publicly denied that several times.
But then, came the WTA's investigation which started in August and ultimately found Vukov guilty of mental abuse and resulted in him receiving a one-year ban.
Stubbs, who worked with Serena Williams during the 2022 US Open, was one of the notable tennis figures who raised certain concerns about the Croatian even before the WTA launched an investigation.
Stubbs: Vukov came after me and wanted to sue me for things about him that were true
He came after me and wanted to sue me, OK, for saying things about him that were true, that have been now investigated for years are now true," the former doubles world No. 1 said on her podcast.
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After revealing that, the former six-time Grand Slam champion in doubles underlined that at the time she didn't say that Vukov was abusing Rybakina, but only said certain things about him being "very negative."
"And I never said anything about him abusing her," the former doubles world No. 1 added.
"I just said he was very negative. And I felt like with a positive coach, wow, how much better could she be? Imagine how good she could be with a really positive coach.
"And so those are the comments I made about him. And then he actually, contacted the WTA and wanted to come after me for making those comments."
Meanwhile, the WTA didn't publicly reveal its findings.
But a report from The Athletic revealed some details, like Vukov reportedly telling Rybakina she would be "picking potatoes" in Russia without him.
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The same report said that the WTA thought that the 37-year-old's actions contributed to the Kazakh's frequent injuries and illnesses.
