Marat Safin officially joined Andrey Rublev’s coaching team last month and he was with Rublev for the UTS event in Nimes, France this past weekend.
Rublev beat Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Casper Ruud in a sudden-death situation.
“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,” the ninth-ranked Russian said of Safin while speaking to Nimes media. “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 will make his ATP coaching debut at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, which begins on Sunday and runs through next Sunday. Rublev, who captured the Monte-Carlo title in 2023 and finished runner-up to Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021, is looking to turn around what has been a lackluster 2025 campaign. His match record stands at a modest 9-7 and he is 4-7 outside of Doha, where he lifted the trophy. The 27-year-old is currently on a three-match losing streak after exiting both Indian Wells and Miami after just one match.
“[Success] depends on him,” Safin commented. “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.”
Safin is expected to be on Team Rublev at least through the clay-court swing, while Fernando Vicente remains the full-time coach.
will be interesting
I cant remember Safin on clay .Or if he can add anything to Rublevs game there.
Maybe try to break his Racquet-breaking record…
he had some decent French Opens