Andrey Rublev hires former world number one as his new coach after second-round exit from Miami Open

Russia’s Andrey Rublev has hired the former world number one Marat Safin as his new coach. The 27-year-old has been going through a bit of a difficult phase this year. In the last three consecutive events, Rublev has been knocked out of the first round.

Before that, he was knocked out of the Australian Open 2024 after losing in the first round to Brazil’s Joao Fonseca in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-3, 7-6. His most recent outing was at the Miami Open, where he was knocked out after losing to Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in his tournament opener in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 6-4.

Those results forced Rublev to change his coaching team, and according to the latest report, he has hired the former world number one Safin as his new coach. The pair will start working at the Monte Carlo Masters. The development was confirmed by sports journalist Sofya Tartakova, who also works as a PR agent for Rublev, in a post on the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter.

“Marat Safin is Andrei Rublev's new coach. As it became known to “Bolshe!”, Marat will join Andrey's team for the clay part of the season. Fernando Vicente will remain Rublev's main coach. The first joint tournament of Andrey and Marat will be the Masters in Monte Carlo,” she wrote.

Safin had a very successful career at the highest level. He retired from the game in 2009 and finished his illustrious career with two major titles. His first-ever major title was the US Open in 2000, where he defeated the former world number one, America’s Pete Sampras, in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. His second and last major title came in 2005 when he lifted the Australian Open after beating former world number one Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in the final with a score of 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4.