Shnaider Taps Safina, Former World No. 1, as Coach

World No. 12 Diana Shnaider has announced the hiring of Dinara Safina, former World No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam finalist, as her new coach.

Shnaider, a left-handed player who recently turned 21, previously collaborated with former ATP World No. 18 Igor Andreev during a successful 2024 season. In 2024, she secured four Hologic WTA Tour singles titles, an Olympic silver medal in doubles with Mirra Andreeva, and a nomination for the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year award. However, their partnership concluded at the end of the year. For the start of 2025, Shnaider was coached by her father, Maxim, while searching for a new coach.

“For the past few months, I`ve been looking for a partnership like this, confident it will be beneficial both on and off the court,” Shnaider stated, expressing gratitude to her father and family for their support while she took time to find the right coaching partnership.

Safina, whose last match was in 2011 and who officially retired in 2014, joins a growing list of prominent former champions on the Hologic WTA Tour now coaching or advising current players. This list includes former World No. 1 Conchita Martinez (coach to M. Andreeva), International Tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver (coach to Donna Vekic), and former World No. 2 and Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska (advisor to Magda Linette).

This announcement follows the news of Safina`s brother, Marat Safin, a two-time Grand Slam champion and International Tennis Hall of Famer, joining Andrey Rublev`s team for the clay-court season. Dinara and Marat Safin are the only sibling pair in tennis history to both achieve the World No. 1 ranking in singles.

Safina, now 41, reached the finals of Roland Garros in 2008 and 2009, and the Australian Open final in 2009. She held the World No. 1 ranking for 26 weeks in 2009, won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics, and accumulated 12 WTA singles titles throughout her career. Similar to Shnaider, Safina also excelled in doubles, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 8 and winning the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy, before her career was unfortunately cut short due to a persistent back injury.

`Dinara is undoubtedly a legend, and I am excited to see what we can accomplish together,` Shnaider commented.

Shnaider is scheduled to begin her clay-court season at the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, starting April 12. Her singles record for this year is currently 8-9, but she boasts an impressive 18-4 record in doubles, having won titles in Brisbane and Miami with Andreeva.