Barbara Spence

Elena Rybakina's triumph seems like a pretty compelling argument for allowing a highly accomplished 26-year-old woman to make her own decisions about who she wants in her life as her coach and otherwise, rather than having a bunch of self-important busybodies decide -- in the name of feminism -- that they somehow know better than this adult woman does about what's best for her. She vehemently and repeatedly insisted Vukov treated her well but somehow the WTA decided her opinions didn't matter. They knew best, even though the key leaders of that lynch mob barely knew Rybakina (as she often pointed out). Rybakina with Vukov is a completely different player than the mediocrity she became when the WTA banned him. He's finally allowed back as her coach and she quickly starts winning: leading to the WTA Finals title and now the AO. Obviously the player deserves most of the credit, but, as in any sport, tennis coaches are vital. What's so hilarious is that the pivotal moment of the match was so clearly when Vukov berated her in the 3rd set for playing with "no energy" -- that was at 0-3, 30-30 and she looked resigned to defeat; she then immediately became a different player: she hit two aces and went on a major roll to win the set and title. The ESPN team had to acknowledge this obviously key instruction but kept referring to the moment when "her team" told her she was playing with no energy. They used every awkward phrase to avoid giving Vukov the credit by name for providing her with the perfect coaching words at the crucial moment (and doing so in a way that most WTA mavens regard as "too negative"). The delicious cherry on the top of all of this is the AO included (I believe for the first time) giving the winning coach a trophy as part of the award ceremony, and, in front of the world, they had to honor and put on the podium Stefano Vukov -- whom the WTA spent 18 months trying to drive out of the sport based on allegations that he was "abusive" to Rybakina despite her insistence that he never was. This should all be a good lesson about honoring the autonomy of adult women to make their own choices in life, but it's doubtful it will be. Anyway: amazing win for Rybakina and "her team" as well as for the autonomy of adults to decide what's best for themselves.