"It’s the misogyny for me, disgusting" - Get all the IPLT20 Highlights upto date

Dmitry Tursunov hit back at Pam Shriver with a harsh assessment of her viewpoint on Elena Rybakina’s coach Stefano Vukov’s angry gestures towards the Kazakh tennis star. Tursunov, who did not hold back in accusing Shriver of “vilifying” the likes of Vukov, also feels that Vukov is solely responsible for Rybakina’s success. Tursunov’s words did not sit well with tennis fans.

During Saturday’s 2023 Australian Open women’s singles final between Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka, Shriver said that she would like to see Rybakina hire a new coach who respects her. Vukov has been in the firing line for his angry and loud gestures towards Rybakina during the semi-final against Victoria Azarenka and the final against Sabalenka.

Tursunov was very agitated by Shriver’s criticism of Vukov, who he feels is the kind of coach any player would be fortunate to have on their team. Among other things, Tursunov also said that Shriver, who is also a coach herself, “would be lucky” to ever reach Vukov’s level and called her blind to anything beyond Vukov’s gestures.

“In your quest to vilify random people in tennis for odd reasons, you have openly and publicly insulted a man who is solely responsible for the fact that you even know who Elena Rybakina is,” Tursunov wrote as part of a series of tweets to Shriver.

@PHShriver 1. Pam, I have respected you as an entity in tennis but lately I’ve seen you write a lot of questionable things. This one has to top it off. In your quest to vilify random people in tennis for odd reasons, you have openly and publicly insulted a man who is solely responsible for

@PHShriver 2. the fact that you even know who Elena Rybakina is. You have zero clue what you are talking about and at the very least owe a public apology to a man who is a great coach in every sense of that word. You’d be lucky to ever reach that level and every player would be lucky to

@PHShriver 3. have someone like that in their corner. The man is loyal to his player with every atom of his body and soul. It’s a shame you have proved time and time again that you are blind to see anything than bunch of gestures.

Reacting to the same, tennis fans were in turn peeved at Tursunov for suggesting that Rybakina would have been nothing without her coach and for laying such heavy criticism on Shriver.

“It’s the misogyny for me . . . Disgusting,” a Twitter user wrote, reacting to Tursunov’s words.

“Solely responsible? as if the player herself has no merit? what is she a marionette?” another fan expressed.

Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans to Tursunov’s heavy criticism of Pam Shriver over the Elena Rybakina-Stefano Vukov row:

@littlegnome16 Oh my gosh what an a hole. He owes Rybakina an apology.

@littlegnome16 it really sucks that these incredible young women are subjected to this level of vile misogyny daily by people “on their team”

Imagine starting a thread (he can’t thread…) with “I have respected you” and then go on to disrespect the person you’re addressing.Also, “solely responsible”? ?twitter.com/TursunovTales/…

I think someone is mad that their former player won and their new player isn’t in the talk… twitter.com/TursunovTales/…

“People can interpret that how they want but at the end of the day we’re just doing our job” – Elena Rybakina’s coach Stefano Vukov reacts to criticism

Elena Rybakina in action at the 2023 Australian Open

Elena Rybakina’s coach Stefano Vukov reacted to receiving criticism over his gestures towards his ward during the 2023 Australian Open semi-final against Victoria Azarenka. Ahead of Saturday’s final, Vukov strongly defended his actions, saying that coaches have to be loud at times to ensure the player gets their message amidst packed crowds in a big stadium.

He stated that he was simply doing his job and was not concerned with what others thought about the same.

“There’s 10,000 people out there, to get the attention of the player is definitely not easy and people don’t understand that. I have to scream out something if she’s off track,” Vukov told foxsports.com.au.

“People can interpret that how they want but at the end of the day we’re just doing our job. Coaching is now allowed and she’s using it in the best possible way,” he added.

He also suggested that players need help from coaches during matches as they experience a range of emotions on the court.

“I think with all the emotions, sometimes the player doesn’t understand which situation of the match they are, which is absolutely normal,” Vukov stated.