Russia’s Diana Shnaider has confirmed she is no longer working with Dinara Safina after storming into the third round of the Italian Open on Thursday.
Speaking to tennis.com, the world No.13 said her former mentor has returned to Spain without further elaborating on the Matter. Safina, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, was officially announced as a member of Shnaider’s team on April 8th via an Instagram post. During their brief time together, Shnaider lost in the second round of the Stuttgart Open to Elise Mertens and then in the fourth round of the Madrid Open to Iga Swiatek, who she took to three sets.
“She returned back home to Barcelona. She needed that,” said Shnaider.
Whilst it is unclear as to why the collaboration has already ended, Shnaider describes the experience as ‘great.’
“The experience, of course, was great,” she continued. “She’s a former world No. 1, so she gave me a lot of those tips on how to stay focused in a match and not to let those negative emotions ruin your game and mental skills. For sure, those are things I learned and I’ll try to use them as much as I can so I can get better each day.”
The separation seems to have little impact on Shnaider’s on-court performance. In her latest match at the Italian Open, she thrashed Caroline Dolehide 6-0, 6-0, in less than an hour. It is the second tournament in a row that she has won a match without dropping a game. In Madrid, she doubled-bagelled Anastasija Sevastova in the third round. According to OptaAce, Shnaider is the first player to register 6-0, 6-0, wins at back-to-back WTA-1000 events since the format was introduced.
“Caroline is such a tricky opponent I really tried to stay focused through the whole match because you never know,” Shnaider commented on her latest win. “Maybe the opponent isn’t feeling well in the beginning of the match, and then she starts feeling more comfortable. Maybe she sees the score and thinks, ‘Ok, whatever, I’m losing,’ and she goes for the shots even more.
“So, I tried not to think about the score because for me, the goal was just to win a match. The score doesn’t matter. I just tried to play a good game and win the match.”
Shnaider will next play Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, who knocked out 23rd seed Yulia Putintseva 7-6(2), 7-5.
