Tennis News: Novak Djokovic to miss time, Elena Rybakina's coaching mess

How must it feel to be Goran Ivanisevic? He coached arguably the greatest player ever, Novak Djokovic, and then was let go last year. After taking a little time away, Ivanisevic was hired by Elena Rybakina to replace Stefano Vukov. Vukov had been visually and vocally abrasive with Rybakina during her matches over the years.

Then, Rybakina changed her mind. She decided to re-hire Vukov. There was a catch, though. The coach was on a provisional suspension (for unknown reasons, though one might guess it had something to do with his treatment of Rybakina), and he could not coach her at the Australian Open. Ivenisevic chose to stay on to help.

But now the coach-player relationship between Ivanisevic and Rybakina is done after the Aussie Open. Rybakina's lead coach again will be Vukov. It is unclear when he will be able to return, however. Plus, Rybakina was seemingly struggling mentally last year as she withdrew or retired from double-digit tournaments. That is an extraordinarily high amount for a top player.

Elena Rybakina's coaching fiasco and Novak Djokovic will miss some time

The hope is that Vukov will be a bit nicer once he returns. Rybakina has said she never claimed that the coach mistreated her. Tennis fans could see Vukov yelling at Rybakina during matches, though. Let's just hope for the most positive outcome.

One player who won't have any match outcomes for a bit of time is Djokovic. He injured his left leg (he tore part of his hamstring) in his Australian Open quarterfinal defeat of Carlos Alcaraz, yet he still attempted to keep playing into the semifinals. He was forced to retire after dropping the first set to Alexander Zverev, though.

Oddly, the Australian Open crowd booed Djokovic as he left the court, a seemingly classless move. Sure, the Serb has not had the best of relations with Australia since he was banned from the 2022 tournament because he had not been vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government had strict rules about who could enter the country if they had not been vaccinated.

Djokovic is likely to miss at least two months because of his hamstring injury, according to what ESPN's Chris Fowler said during the Aussie Open broadcast.

The Serb probably will not need to change his schedule much, however. He has chosen to focus more on Grand Slam events and he should be back in time for the French Open in May.

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