World No. 12 Diana Shnaider has announced the appointment of 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, former ATP World No. 18, during the latter half of her successful 2024 season. That season saw her secure four Hologic WTA Tour singles titles, an Olympic silver medal in doubles with Mirra Andreeva, and a nomination for the WTA`s Most Improved Player of the Year award. However, their partnership concluded at the end of the year. Shnaider`s father, Maxim, coached her at the start of 2025 while she searched for a new coach.
“Over the past few months, I have been looking for a partnership like this, one that I believe will greatly benefit me both on and off the court,” Shnaider stated, expressing gratitude to her father and family for their support while she took time to find this new coaching partnership.
Safina, whose last match was in 2011 and who officially retired in 2014, joins a growing list of distinguished former champions on the Hologic WTA Tour who are now coaching or advising current players. This list includes other 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 (coach to Magda Linette).
This coaching 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 unique in tennis history as the only brother-sister duo 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 position in the PIF WTA Rankings for 26 weeks in 2009, won an Olympic silver medal in 2008, 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 set to begin her clay-court season at the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, starting on 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.
