Elena Rybakina reveals coach Stefano Vukov got a tattoo to honor her stunning Wimbledon victory. Two and a half years ago at the Qatar Open, Vukov promised Rybakina that he would get a tattoo of her name if she ever won Wimbledon.
This summer, 23-year-old Rybakina became a Grand Slam champion after beating Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final. Vukov didn’t forget the bet and he tattooed Rybakina’s name on his right arm. The tattoo contains Rybakina’s name and the date of this year’s Wimbledon final.
“I already forgot [about the bet] – we were laughing around,” Rybakina told The Guardian. “Before the final, he told me that he would do it. So, he did it. For me, it’s still crazy, I can’t believe it.
But it is what it is. We had a bet”.
Rybakina: I’m calm and quiet, Vukov is energetic
“I’m a very calm person and he is very active,” Rybakina said. “He has so much energy and I think it works well for us because we are completely different.
He’s always pushing me to be better and this works. I’ve had great results with him. We’ll see how long and how many more achievements we can make together”. Rybakina was the 23rd-ranked player in the world when she won Wimbledon.
But since there were no points at this year’s Wimbledon, Rybakina didn’t break into the top-10 following her victory. Going forward, 25th-ranked Rybakina wants to win more Grand Slams and break into the top-10 for the first time in her career.
“It’s never enough, I think. The goal is to win many more Grand Slams. For this year, my goal was to be top 10,” Rybakina noted. “Still it’s the same goal because I didn’t move in the ranking. It’s just the last Grand Slam of this year, to try and get as far as I can”.
