World No. 16 Andrey Rublev says this offseason isn't like anything he has experienced before as he admits coach Marat Safin has been "killing him" with a brutal training regimen.
After struggling with a major depressive episode and turning to Safin for advice and help, Rublev took their relationship to the next level when he hired the Russian tennis icon as his coach in April. The trial period went well and they decided to continue for the entire 2025, as well as continue with their collaboration in 2026.
When Rublev added Safin to his team, the world No. 16 issued one brutally honest comment – he admitted that he knew that he would be ditched by the former two-time Grand Slam champion if he "did not listen or work hard enough."
Now, in their first offseason together, the 17-time ATP champion is experiencing firsthand how it feels to be trained by Safin.
Rublev: Safin is killing me… High-intensity from the baseline and no mistakes
The Russian tennis star was a guest on the first episode of Greg Rusedski's podcast and he was asked about how his offseason was going.
“For me, it’s crazy because now with Marat and members of my team, they are killing me. I can’t remember another year when they have done this to me. It is fitness to begin with for two and a half hours. Then it is tennis for two hours and he is killing me. No mistakes from the baseline, high intensity from the baseline until you make it. This push is all for me. It is always about yourself," the 28-year-old told Rusedski.
Shortly after adding Safin to his team, Rublev came close to winning Hamburg, but fell short to Flavio Cobolli in the final. The world No. 16 made only one semifinal in the rest of the year.
For 2026, one of Rublev's biggest goals will be to finally make it past the Grand Slam quarterfinal stage, as well as return to the top-10.
