The tennis world can’t get enough of Marat Safin’s return to the tour—or of his “Johnny Depp vibes,” off-the-charts “aura” and inimitable style.
All eyes were on the former world No. 1 as Safin made his debut in Andrey Rublev’s coaching box on Thursday at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, joining coaches Fernando Vicente and Alberto Martin. The Safin-Rublev partnership is now officially 1-0, after Rublev edged past Gael Monfils’ 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the second round.
Read More: No logic, just a feeling: Andrey Rublev “always knew” he wanted to work with Marat Safin
Speaking to Paul Annecone and Mark Petchey on Tennis Channel Live, Andy Roddick said the No. 9-ranked Russian’s new coaching hire makes “a lot of sense” for many reasons.
“Sometimes you just need a different voice… Sometimes you need to bring in a Marat Safin to look you in the eyes and say: You’re a little nuts, I’m a little nuts. You like wearing goofy sunglasses, I like wearing goofy sunglasses,” Roddick said.
“And we can both hit winners off the forehand and backhand side at any moment. This seems like a great match.”
