Elena Rybakina arrived at the final Saturday of the US Open with a chance to add another major trophy to what has already become a remarkable season.

The 27-year-old will face Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's women's singles final, a rematch of the Australian Open championship match Rybakina won earlier this year. She will also officially rise to world No. 1 for the first time when the WTA rankings update Monday.

And back in Rybakina's corner for this run is the coach whose name has been tied to nearly every stage of her rise: Stefano Vukov.

Vukov has worked with Rybakina for most of the past seven years, a partnership that stretches from her climb out of the top 100 to Wimbledon champion and, now, incoming world No. 1.

It has also been anything but straightforward.

Stefano Vukov Has Coached Elena Rybakina Since 2019

Vukov, a Croatian former professional tennis player, began coaching Rybakina in February 2019.

At the time, Rybakina was still outside the WTA's top 100 and trying to establish herself on tour. Her ascent came quickly.

By the following year, she had cracked the top 20. In 2022, Rybakina broke through on the sport's biggest stage, defeating Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final to win her first Grand Slam singles title.

Vukov was there throughout the rise.

Their partnership also produced one of the more unusual coach-player promises in tennis. Vukov had agreed that if Rybakina ever won Wimbledon, he would get her name tattooed.

After she did exactly that in 2022, he followed through.

“I already forgot [about the bet] — we were laughing around,” Rybakina later told The Guardian. “Before the final, he told me that he would do it. So, he did it.”

By then, the coach who had joined Rybakina before she became one of the sport's biggest names was firmly associated with her career.

Then came a complicated split.

Why Did Elena Rybakina and Stefano Vukov Split?

Rybakina announced shortly before the 2024 US Open that Vukov would no longer be coaching her, ending their partnership after more than five years.

She later hired former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, but that partnership lasted only through the 2025 Australian Open.

Vukov rejoined Rybakina's team in early 2025, but the WTA had provisionally suspended him while it conducted an investigation into a potential breach of its code of conduct. The tour subsequently imposed a one-year suspension.

Vukov appealed.

In August 2025, the suspension was lifted following the appeal process, clearing him to return to tournaments and Rybakina's player box. Rybakina had publicly defended Vukov and repeatedly maintained that he had never mistreated her.

Once he was allowed back, the two resumed working together.

“This year I tried with a new coach,” Rybakina said in 2025. “Didn't work out in the beginning, so the results were not the same as previous years.”

She added at the time, “It's just nice to see him in the box. We obviously have good communication.”

The reunion was followed by another surge in Rybakina's career. She won the 2025 WTA Finals and then captured her second Grand Slam title at the 2026 Australian Open.

Who Else Coaches Elena Rybakina?

Vukov isn't the only coach working with Rybakina.

Stanislav Khmarskyi is also part of her team and has been visible throughout the 2026 US Open, including on the practice court in New York. Khmarskyi previously worked with former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Rybakina's broader support team also includes fitness and physiotherapy personnel, along with a hitting partner.

Still, Vukov remains the defining coaching relationship of her professional career.

The numbers help explain why.

Rybakina has won Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the WTA Finals during their years working together. Saturday gives her an opportunity to add the US Open to that list.

She reached her first final in New York by rallying past Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in Thursday's semifinal. Rybakina entered the tournament with an ankle issue and had never previously advanced beyond the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.

Now she gets Sabalenka.

The two have already met 17 times, with Sabalenka holding a narrow 10-7 advantage. Their latest Grand Slam championship showdown comes eight months after Rybakina beat Sabalenka in three sets to win the Australian Open.

Whatever happens inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday, Rybakina will leave New York with something she has never had before.

On Monday, she will officially be the world's No. 1 player.

And the coach who was there near the beginning of her climb is once again sitting in her box.