Andrey Rublev Adds Former World No. 1 Marat Safin To His Coaching Team
News
Andrey Rublev made his coaching team stronger by adding another member, the former ATP World No. 1 player, Marat Safin.
Rublev has been one of the most successful tennis players of his generation. Although he hasn't played in any Grand Slam final, like Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alexander Zverev all have, he managed to win some significant titles.
His qualities could be best described by the fact that he has ended every season since 2020 in the Top 10. In fact, he finished every season inside the Top 8, always finishing eighth or fifth.
In recent months, however, the 27-year-old Russian player has struggled to keep up with the rest of his rivals, especially after the emergence of even more young, talented players, such as Jack Draper, who won the Indian Wells Open.
Because of that, Rublev is on the verge of exiting the Top 10 for the first time in three years. On Monday, the Russian player will be only 110 points away from leaving the Top 10.
He is obviously aware of his struggles, which is why he made the decision to add to his coaching team. For over a decade, Rublev has been coached by Fernando Vicente, who is a former World No. 29.
Vicente won't be leaving Rublev's team, as per the Russian publication Bolshe! and Sofya Tartakova, but he will be joined by another member. Former ATP World No. 1 player, Marat Safin, should officially join Rublev's team.
It seems that Rublev has been in contact with Safin in recent months, as last year in August, he credited Safin for helping him to deal with being hot-headed on the tennis court.
Safin is an incredibly experienced and successful tennis player. He won the 2000 US Open and the 2005 Australian Open, and reached the World No. 1 rank in November 2000.
During his career, the 45-year-old Russian former player accumulated 15 ATP titles and over $14 million in prize money. Safin doesn't necessarily have a lot of experience when it comes to coaching, but as his fellow former World No. 1, Andy Murray, showed, for such successful players, that doesn't even need to be a necessity.
According to the report from Bolshe!, Rublev and Safin should start working together at the Monte-Carlo Masters, which starts on April 6th. In the past, Rublev enjoyed success in Monte Carlo, but he also had some disappointing results.
For example, he won the tournament in 2023 and reached the final in 2021, but he lost in his first match in the main draw in 2019 and 2024. He lost in his second match in 2022.
Although Safin will certainly have plenty of inputs for Rublev when it comes to his game, the former Russian player will definitely also try to help the current World No. 9 player with the mental side, as that's what the two talked about before, per Rublev's words.
