The Andrey Rublev and Marat Safin player-coach relationship is underway after Safin was in Rublev’s box for the UTS event in Nimes, France earlier this weekend.
Rublev played two matches in the Roman coliseum style venue, defeating Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals before falling in sudden death to eventual champion Casper Ruud. Now it’s on to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where Safin will make his coaching debut on the ATP Tour.
“[Success] depends on him,” Safin said of his charge. “I can show him the road, but he needs to walk (it). It’s not going to happen magically; you need to work your way. So I think it’s up to him. Let’s see how it goes for the next couple of weeks, but I think he’s willing to do it.”
Rublev needs to turn his season around in the worst way. The 27-year-old Russian’s match record stands at a modest 9-7, including 4-7 outside of Doha (where he won the title). Rublev has lost three matches in a row, a stretch that includes opening losses in both Indian Wells and Miami. The good news, though, is that world No. 9 generally enjoys Monte-Carlo. He won this tournament in 2023 and finished runner-up in 2021 (l. to Stefanos Tsitsipas).
Is Rublev poised for more success now that Safin on the team? Optimism abounds.
“He’s been through many things in his life, plus on top of that he knows me since I was little and I know him all my life,” he said of Safin while speaking to media in Nimes. “I think he can help me, but I cannot be specific because we only started to work like three days (ago). We will see after a couple of months.”
Safin is expected to be on the coaching team at least through the European clay-court swing. Fernando Vicente remains Rublev’s full-time coach.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.
