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Elena Rybakina turned her season around in style by winning the 2025 WTA Finals, but found herself at the center of controversy soon after. Her post-match actions drew criticism from Pam Shriver, whose harsh remarks didn’t sit well with the Kazakh's fans. Rybakina defeated World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the year-end tournament with a score of 6-3, 7-6(0) on Saturday, November 8, and took home a massive $5,235,000 as the undefeated champion. However, right after the match, she sparked controversy by refusing to take a photo with WTA CEO Portia Archer during the trophy presentation. Archer came onto the court to take a photo with both finalists but ended up posing only with Sabalenka, as Rybakina stood off to the side. It is worth noting that Archer was the one who had banned Rybakina’s coach, Stefano Vukov, earlier this year due to allegations of abusive behaviour, with the ban being lifted in August. Commenting on the incident, Pam Shriver, who previously coached Donna Vekic, took to X (formerly Twitter) and said she didn’t like how Elena Rybakina “dissed” the WTA CEO while earning more money than the 'Original Nine' who founded the organization. It’s worth noting that Shriver herself has spoken about being a victim of a traumatic relationship with her ex-coach and had earlier criticized Rybakina for rehiring Vukov to her team."Imagine winning more prize money in one tournament than the entire Original Nine over their collective careers, then dissing WTA CEO because the CEO has tried to ensure stronger safeguards in your sports… it’s hard to imagine," Shriver wrote. Fans wasted no time in expressing their frustration over Shriver’s remarks, taking to X to call her out. One user wrote:"'Tried to ensure stronger safeguards in your sports' by leaking Elena Rybakina's personal life details? You're sick. Disgusting.""Pam, I would have expected better from you here. If you believe Rybakina, her coach was wrongly accused. If you don’t, then she’s reunited w/ a coach who’s abused her. Neither scenario lends itself to a good relationship w/ the WTA right now. She needs prayers, not scorn," another wrote. One account posted:"What she did was not classy but U of all people should not be talking. You said you want to protect Lena, but never spoke directly to her during the Vukov suspension and instead made public posts to the masses for a couple of likes.""Elena can do whatever she wants and if she didn't want to take a picture with the new CEO she must have her reasons," one fan tweeted. "What does the prize money have anything to do with this? Y’all accused the man, suspended him, he is now back. She doesn’t want to take a photo w/someone who led that prosecution after winning the biggest title of her life with said coach. Can you really not see her side?" another joined in. "Imagine blaming someone you said was abused by their coach. That’s absolutely disgusting of you. Victims should never be blamed. Also if this is in fact not true then she has every right to refuse to take a picture," another wrote. Elena Rybakina comments on refusing to take a picture with WTA CEO Portia ArcherElena Rybakina pictured at the 2025 WTA Finals | Image Source: GettyElena Rybakina addressed her decision to skip a photo with WTA CEO Portia Archer at the 2025 WTA Finals. Speaking at the post-match press conference, the Kazakh said there was a reason behind her choice but preferred to keep it private between herself and Archer. Rybakina also talked about not having any reconciliation talks with the Tour to move past the whole Stefano Vukov saga, even though there were opportunities, saying:"I think we're all doing our job and we had the opportunity to have conversations but in the end it never happened so we're all doing our job and I think we're going to keep it this way."The Kazakh then reflected on winning the year-end tournament while battling a shoulder injury and admitted she hadn’t expected to come this far."It's been an incredible week, I honestly didn't expect any result, and to go so far, it's just incredible," Rybakina said. Elena Rybakina wrapped up her 2025 season with three titles to her name, including the WTA Finals, after earlier triumphs in Strasbourg and Ningbo, and a 58-19 win-loss record. The World No. 5 finished second on tour for most titles, behind Aryna Sabalenka’s four, and tied with Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula at three.
