Tennis has had coaching changes forever because it’s an essential part of what makes the sport. Players change coaches, and then they either play better or worse. Then the cycle repeats itself.
Recently, there have been a couple of interesting changes in the world of men’s tennis, with Marat Safin becoming the coach of Andrey Rublev and Goran Ivanisevic becoming the coach of Stefanos Tsitsipas.
These are significant moves in a vacuum, so let’s take a closer look at why these changes happened, how the individual partnerships came to be, and what might happen in the future.
What’s behind these coaching changes?
While Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev don’t look similar on the court, there are some connecting dots between them. Both are about the same age and belong to the same generation of tennis players – one that hasn’t really been able to impose itself quite the way they hoped.
They were up-and-coming players who proved their worth but failed to really go all the way. Tsitsipas played a couple of Grand Slam finals, while Rublev has played none. As both entered the latter half of their twenties, time is no longer on their side, which is why they brought in coaches they believe will be great fits.
That’s the key distinction-coaches they believe will be a great addition-because ultimately, it’s about the players and what they feel. There have been numerous cases of spectacular coaches not working out for a player for various reasons.
It doesn’t mean the coach is wrong; it just means that the pairing is not working. As Rublev and Tsitsipas both seemingly stagnated, changes had to be made, and these are the changes they opted for.
Ivanisevic and Tsitsipas
Ivanisevic has had a wild ride since leaving the team of Novak Djokovic, but he has seemingly found a home. The Croatian established himself as a big voice in the Djokovic camp, helping him win numerous Grand Slam trophies. As a former Grand Slam champion himself, he certainly has the authority and pedigree to speak about that.
Tsitsipas has never had such a voice in his camp. He was coached by his father through most of his life, but his father was never a competitive player. He never did what Tsitsipas hopes to achieve, and as the saying goes, don’t take advice from people who are not where you want to be. The Greek had a few other voices come in, but that didn’t work.
Now, he finally has a coach who has done what he hopes to achieve and can help guide him.
As for Ivanisevic, he gets a player who is fully committed to his tennis career and is not afraid to listen and question things. That is the perfect type of player a coach like Ivanisevic needs so he can mold him into what he believes would be the best version.
Rublev and Safin
This was a combo that almost broke the tennis community because it’s so poetic in many ways. Rublev is known as a bit of a madman on the tennis court with his various outbursts. Safin was that guy 20 years ago. The Russian is well-documented for his temper, his outbursts, and his tennis talent.
In many ways, Rublev likely sees himself in Safin, which could be why he chose him. Safin, despite his demons, was able to control them enough to win Grand Slams, which is what Rublev hopes to achieve as well.
The Russian admitted that he didn’t hire Safin because he put a lot of thought into it. He just went with the vibe, thinking that it would be great, and it is—precisely because they are so similar in many ways.
The laid-back nature of Safin, who does enjoy the finer things in life, might help Rublev decompress a little bit because, at times, he seemed too tense and too absorbed in trying to succeed. That’s not an approach that has led to much success so far, and Rublev needs a change. Tennis is great, but so is a martini.
“I’m just trying to listen and to try new things,” Rublev said after the new partnership was announced.
“We’ll see how it will work, or what it will bring, or what’s going to happen. I hope for a really long partnership, but it depends if he enjoys working with me or if he will suffer. Because if he feels I’m not listening, I don’t think he will waste his time.”
Will Tsitsipas and Rublev’s coaching changes work?
The one question with all coaching changes is whether they will work or not. We’ve seen how badly things can go if they don’t work and how well things can go if they do. The answer to this question, though, is that nobody knows—not even the players who made the decisions.
Neither Rublev nor Tsitsipas made the choices they did thinking or hoping they wouldn’t work. There is logic behind both decisions, whether it be the vibe-based choice for Rublev, who needs a life mentor more than simply a tennis coach, or Tsitsipas choosing a player who had similar strengths to what he possesses.
The choices make sense. What we can’t know, and no one can know, is whether these people will get along as individuals, because ultimately, a coaching relationship is first a relationship. It’s a relationship between two distinct entities and two different people, and how they get along will determine whether it will work or not.
For now, it seems like things are working. Tsitsipas has looked pretty dominant, playing some inspired tennis, especially on his beloved clay, where he struggled at times in the past. Rublev seems relaxed and laughing, so perhaps the chill nature of Safin is indeed working well for him.
The bottom line of each of these partnerships will be determined when the relationship ends and the results are thoroughly inspected. For now, it’s too early to tell what kind of relationship it will be and whether it will work.
