Dinara Safina's riskiest forecast: "In the next Roland Garros.."

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December is a month where many tennis legends take the opportunity to share their opinions on what we've seen this season and what lies ahead. In an interview with Championat, we can read Dinara Safina sharing insights about future Grand Slam champions, among other topics. Did you know she was almost Aryna Sabalenka's coach before her breakthrough? And that Mirra Andreeva also inquired about her? Here are some interesting statements from the former world No. 1 and Olympic runner-up that we bring to you today on the website.

Why doesn't she coach anyone?

"I tried for a long time, and I still consider it today, but being a full-time coach is a challenging task in terms of time. You have to be constantly traveling, sacrificing a lot, especially time with family. I am ready to help as a senior coach, supervising. I can work with someone temporarily for a week if needed; I am open to offers. What I am not prepared for is to be a full-time coach."

The train she missed

"I spoke with Aryna (Sabalenka) in 2019, just before the US Open. She had just ended her collaboration with Dmitry Tursunov, so her agent called me and said there was that option, but I would have to fly immediately and start preparing for that US Open. Unfortunately, I had to say no, I couldn't take on that challenge. I understand the request because I also behaved like that when I was a player—I would have demanded a coach for the next day too."

The call from Mirra Andreeva

"Mirra was looking for a new coach; her agent called many specialists, asked if there was interest in the project, until he put together a list and showed it to Mirra to choose. In my case, it all sounded great, but I wasn't ready to travel around the world with her. Of course, it would have been very interesting, but she ended up working with Conchita Martínez, who is also very good. She has been helping her a lot since then."

Diana Shnaider, from the top100 to the top15

"It's incredible to see the progress she has made since the beginning of the season. The only thing that worries me is that she's playing so many tournaments; it could be concerning for her health. There are players who don't like to train, players who prefer to play more tournaments; in my case, I always needed more training sessions; it depends on the character. If she's comfortable in this situation and keeps showing that level of tennis, then everything is fine. Diana is left-handed, which makes me like her style even more, it makes her powerful. I'm looking forward to seeing how she continues to progress alongside Igor Andreev."

Is this circuit worse than hers?

"In my time, there were more stable players. There was Serena and Venus Williams, Davenport, Mauresmo, Henin, Sharapova, Clijsters, etc. They were consistent throughout the year, rarely had minor injuries, that's why the top 10 was so tight; there were some girls who were untouchable. Now we have some players who can fail in three or four tournaments and then return to the top 10. Except for Gauff and Pegula, the rest are all unstable. Only Sabalenka and Swiatek played the whole season without major ups and downs."

Andrey Rublev's situation

"I understand when Andrey says he's scared, but he has to overcome himself, to trust himself. That moment will facilitate his progress, as every player is trying to add new elements to their tennis, so it's increasingly difficult to step onto the court without opponents reading your intentions. Sometimes you need to take the lead; Andrey has to speed up his game, finish points sooner. It would be much better for him to finish more points at the net."

Predictions for 2025

"At the Australian Open, Sinner and Sabalenka will win. At the French Open, Zverev and Muchova; it seems Swiatek won't win this time in her kingdom. At Wimbledon, Alcaraz or Medvedev, while Rybakina takes the win for the women. Finally, Medvedev or Rublev will win the US Open... and Sabalenka will repeat as the women's champion."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, El pronóstico más arriesgado de Dinara Safina: “En el próximo Roland Garros…”