"We definitely need to be more sensitive" - Elena Rybakina's coach gets honest about his switch from coaching ATP players to working with Kazakh

Elena Rybakina has been working with Italy's Davide Sanguinetti since the beginning of 2025. Recently, Sanguinetti reflected on what it is like to train the Kazakh after having worked with ATP players, highlighting that he found the need to be more sensitive.

Rybakina’s head coach has long since been Stefano Vukov. However, after the Croatian was suspended by the WTA earlier this year, the former World No.3 has been looking for a coach who can join her during tournaments. Rybakina briefly worked with Goran Ivanisevic, but that partnership ended after the Australian Open. In February, the Kazakh officially began working with Davide Sanguinetti.

Sanguinetti, a former player himself, has previously worked with several men's singles players, including Brandon Nakashima. Recently, in an interview with Supertennis.tv, the Italian opened up about the difference between working with ATP players and Elena Rybakina, saying,

"We definitely need to be more sensitive to girls, who have different ways of interacting. It was new to me; I'm learning and adapting."

Rybakina and Sanguinetti’s partnership has resulted in considerable success, with the 26-year-old winning the Internationaux de Strasbourg in May and making semifinal appearances at multiple other events.

Davide Sanguinetti opens up about Elena Rybakina’s potential to become World No.1

Rybakina and Sanguinetti at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (Image Source: Getty)

Elena Rybakina has delivered several impressive performances with Davide Sanguinetti by her side in tournaments. As the duo continue their partnership, the Italian revealed that he hopes to guide the Kazakh to the top spot in the WTA Rankings in the coming year, telling Supertennis.tv,

“At the moment I'm a sort of ferryman: I joined her team in February, without any work behind me. She explained to me more or less what she had done, and I asked her for two years of collaboration because I have my own working method: in the first year I would like to maintain the status quo, maybe finish at number 6 in the rankings, and next year I would like to take her to number one in the world: she has all the potential.”

Elena Rybakina is currently in action at the Canadian Open. The Grand Slam champion began her time in Montreal with straight game wins over Hailey Baptiste and Jacqueline Christian. She then beat Dayana Yastremska in her round of 16 match, and was up 6-1, 2-1 in her quarterfinals encounter against Marta Kostyuk when the latter retired. Rybakina will now return to court on Thursday, August 7 for her semifinals match against Victoria Mboko.