Andrey Rublev says the length of his new coaching partnership with Marin Safin will depend on how much the former world No.1 ‘enjoys or suffers’ working with him.
The world No.9 recently added two-time Grand Slam champion Safin to his team with this week’s Monte Carlo Masters being the first event he plays under the supervision of his new mentor. Safin won 15 ATP titles during his career, spent nine weeks at the top of the ATP rankings and earned more than $14.3M in prize money before retiring in 2009.
Rublev has idolized the 45-year-old since childhood and hopes to have him on his team for a long period. Coincidentally, his long-time coach Fernando Vicente and agent Galo Blanco are familiar with Safin’s style of tennis after both played him on the Tour multiple times during their careers.
“I hope for really long, but it depends if he will enjoy to work with me or he will suffer,” Rublev said of the new partnership.
“Because if he would feel that I’m not doing the things or I’m not listening, I don’t think he will waste his time.
“For the moment I’m just trying to listen and to try new things. We’ll see how it will work, or what it will bring, or what’s going to happen.”
During Safin’s career, he produced various outbursts that at times landed him in hot water. He was fined $2,000 after swearing at the umpire during his third round match at the 2007 Australian Open. A year earlier he was hit with a $10,000 penalty for refusing to attend a news conference at the French Open after losing his opening match. Safin once estimated that he smashed around 50 rackets every year.
Rublev is also a player known for his fiery outbursts on the court which has also gotten him in trouble. One of the most notable being at the Dubai Tennis Championship where he was defaulted from his semi-final match after shouting at the line judge. He was fined $36,400 but managed to keep his ranking points and prize money earned at the event after an appeal.
“He had his own struggles that he went through and I was always afraid to ask (about) those things, but inside I always wanted to,” Rublev said.
“In the end, when I found out that he was also ready and he was looking maybe to work in tennis, it was like, ‘Okay, I have to at least try … I have to ask’.”
Rublev is the seventh seed in Monte Carlo. His opening match will be against Gael Monfils, who he currently leads 2-1 in their head-to-head.
