Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion and former world No. 3, has faced a rollercoaster of a season in 2025, marked by flashes of brilliance, unexpected setbacks, and off-court challenges. As the tennis world turns its attention to the Canadian Open in Montreal, where Rybakina has reached the semifinals, the 26-year-old Kazakhstani star took a moment to reflect on her year, describing it as “not bad” but admitting it fell short of her lofty standards. With a 37-14 record and a single title at the WTA 500 event in Strasbourg, Rybakina’s season has been a tale of resilience amid adversity, as she navigates coaching controversies, injuries, and inconsistent form.
The year began with high expectations for Rybakina, who had previously reached the Australian Open final in 2023 and secured three titles in 2024. However, 2025 started on a turbulent note with a coaching shake-up that made headlines. After parting ways with longtime coach Stefano Vukov in August 2024, Rybakina briefly worked with former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanišević, a move that initially sparked excitement. “Yeah, we did a couple of weeks together. He’s a fun guy,” Rybakina said of Ivanišević, noting that their preseason preparation was productive. However, their partnership ended abruptly after her fourth-round exit at the Australian Open, where she fell to Madison Keys. In a surprising twist, Rybakina announced Vukov’s return to her team in January 2025, only for the WTA to suspend him for 12 months following a code of conduct investigation. Despite her public defense of Vukov, Rybakina has since been working with interim coach Davide Sanguinetti, adding to the off-court drama that has shadowed her season.
On the court, Rybakina’s performance has been a mixed bag. A back injury hampered her during the Australian swing, contributing to her round-of-16 exit at the Australian Open. Early in the year, she struggled to find her rhythm, suffering surprising defeats such as a second-round loss to Ashlyn Krueger at the Miami Open and a third-round exit to Elina Svitolina at the Madrid Open. Her powerful serve, which led the WTA Tour with an average of 6.7 aces per match in 2024, remained a cornerstone of her game, but consistency eluded her. “Well, the season overall is not bad. Of course, I had more success in the previous years, and it was a bit tough for me at the beginning of the year,” Rybakina admitted during a press conference in Montreal. “I feel like I used to play much better in the first part of the year usually, but it took me some time to get back to the level I want to be.”
Despite these challenges, Rybakina found her footing on the clay courts of Strasbourg in May, where she clinched her first title in over a year. Facing a tough field, she defeated Wang Xinyu, Magda Linette, and No. 9 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia before outlasting Liudmila Samsonova in a thrilling three-set final, 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-1. “It was a really tough match against Bia; we’ve always had tough matches, so I was expecting that,” Rybakina said after her semifinal win. The victory marked a turning point, boosting her confidence as she headed into the French Open. There, she reached the fourth round, defeating rising American star Iva Jovic and qualifier Julia Riera before falling to world No. 1 Iga Świątek in a competitive three-set match.
Rybakina’s grass-court season showed promise but was marred by a surprising quarterfinal loss to Tatjana Maria at the Queen’s Club Championships, where she squandered a break advantage. Her hard-court campaign leading into Montreal, however, suggests she is regaining her form. In Montreal, she advanced to the semifinals after Marta Kostyuk retired during their match, setting up a highly anticipated clash with Canadian wildcard Victoria Mboko. “I think that now I’m happy how the things are going, and hopefully I can change a little bit what was happening in the past years and play even better in the second part of the year,” Rybakina said, expressing optimism about her prospects for the US Open and beyond.
As Rybakina prepares for her semifinal in Montreal, her season serves as a testament to her resilience. Despite coaching upheavals and early struggles, her ability to compete at a high level—evidenced by semifinal appearances in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and a quarterfinal run in Qatar—underscores her potential to reclaim her place among the elite. With her thunderous serve and aggressive baseline game, Rybakina remains a formidable contender. As she looks to the hard-court swing, including the Cincinnati Open and the US Open, her focus is clear: to build on her recent momentum and rediscover the form that made her a Grand Slam champion. The tennis world watches eagerly to see if Rybakina can turn her turbulent 2025 into a triumphant one.
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