World No. 12 Diana Shnaider announced Tuesday she has hired former World No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam finalist Dinara Safina as her new coach.
The left-hander, who recently celebrated her 21st birthday, previously worked with former ATP World No. 18 Igor Andreev in the back half of a breakthrough 2024 season that saw her win four Hologic WTA Tour singles titles, capture an Olympic silver medal in doubles with Mirra Andreeva, and earn a nomination for the tour’s Most Improved Player of the Year award. But the pair split by year end, and Shnaider was coached to start 2025 by her father, Maxim, while she searched for a 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,” Shnaider wrote, thanking her father and family for the support in the interim while she “[took] time to find this new partnership.”
Safina, who played her last match in 2011 and officially retired in 2014, joins other high-profile former champions on the Hologic WTA Tour to now serve as coaches or advisors to active players, including fellow former World No. 1 Conchita Martinez (M. Andreeva), International Tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver (Donna Vekic) and former World No. 2 and Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska (Magda Linette).
The news comes on the heels of Safina’s brother, two-time Grand Slam champion and International Tennis Hall of Famer Marat Safin, joining ATP World No. 9 Andrey Rublev’s team for the clay-court season. Safina and Safin are the only brother-sister pair in tennis history to reach World No. 1 in singles.
Safina, now 41, reached the final of Roland Garros in 2008 and 2009, as well as the 2009 Australian Open final. She spent 26 weeks at the top of the PIF WTA Rankings in 2009, won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympics, and in all captured 12 career WTA singles titles. Like Shnaider, Safina was also a threat on the doubles court, peaking at a career-high ranking of No. 8 and winning the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy, before her career eventually ended prematurely due to a long-term back injury.
“Dinara is obviously a legend, and I am thrilled to see what we can do together,” Shnaider said.
Shnaider will start her clay-court season at the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, which begins on April 12. She is 8-9 in singles so far this year, but has posted an 18-4 doubles record, winning both Brisbane and Miami with Andreeva.
