Diana Shnaider reveals who helped her getting in touch with new coach Dinara Safina

Russia’s Diana Shnaider has opened up about she was connected with the former world number one Dinara Safina. The 38-year-old joined the youngster for the coaching stint ahead of the busy season.

The development was announced by the youngster herself in a post on her official account on the social media platform Instagram. "Hello everyone! I am excited to announce that Dinara Safina is joining my team as my new coach. The past few months, I have been searching for a partnership like this that I am confident will be great for me both on and off the court. Dinara is obviously a legend, and I am thrilled to see what we can do together," she wrote.

Shnaider has been recently quoted in a report by Tennis.com, where she explained how she was connected with the three-time Grand Slam runner-up. She stated that her mother played a part in it as she first connected her to another former world number one and 2004 French Open winner Anastasia Myskina, who then connected the two. The youngster also explained that she is very excited to be working with the sister of another former world number one, Marat Safin.

“My mom connected with Myskina and said, ‘Hey, we are looking for a coach. Maybe you have some suggestion for who would be the right fit for Diana?’ She obviously knows me from a very young age,” Shnaider explained. “She got our number and shared [it] with Dinara, and then we just got connected. I’m very excited for it! I mean, she’s a former world No. 1, and I’ve never worked with a woman as a coach. So it’s also going to be a first time experience for me. But I’m very excited and I feel like it’s going to be great.”

Shnaider is not going through a great season. She has participated in seven different competitions this year but has not managed to play in the quarterfinal or beyond in any one of them, in the singles category. Her best outing this year came at the Australian Open, where she was knocked out after losing in the third round to Donna Vekic with a score of 7-6, 6-7, 7-5. Her most recent outing was at the Charleston Open, where she was knocked out after losing in the second round to Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-1.