Diana Shnaider, currently ranked No. 12 in the world, revealed on Tuesday that she has appointed Dinara Safina, a 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 Igor Andreev, a former ATP World No. 18, during a successful 2024 season. In 2024, she secured four Hologic WTA Tour singles titles, won an Olympic silver medal in doubles with Mirra Andreeva, and received a nomination for the WTA`s Most Improved Player of the Year award. However, their partnership concluded at the end of the year. At the start of 2025, Shnaider was temporarily coached by her father, Maxim, while searching for a permanent coach.
“Over the last few months, I have been looking for a partnership like this, and I am confident it will be beneficial for me both on and off the court,” Shnaider stated, expressing gratitude to her father and family for their support during the period she took to find this new coaching relationship.
Safina, who played her last professional match in 2011 and officially retired in 2014, is among several distinguished former champions on the Hologic WTA Tour who are now coaching or advising current players. Other notable examples include former World No. 1 Conchita Martinez (coach of M. Andreeva), International Tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver (coach of Donna Vekic), and former World No. 2 and Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska (coach of Magda Linette).
This announcement follows the news that Safina`s brother, Marat Safin, a two-time Grand Slam champion and International Tennis Hall of Famer, has joined Andrey Rublev`s team for the clay-court season. Safina and Safin are unique in tennis history as the only brother-sister duo to both achieve the World No. 1 ranking in singles.
Safina, now 41 years old, reached the finals of the French Open in 2008 and 2009, as well as 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 very 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 on April 12. So far this year, her singles record is 8-9, but she has achieved a strong 18-4 record in doubles, winning titles in Brisbane and Miami with Andreeva.
