From angry outbursts to having heated exchanges with the umpires! Andrey Rublev doesn’t think twice before hitting his knees with his racquets to vent out his frustration during the intense moments of his matches. We know how tough it has been for the 26-year-old Russian tennis star to swallow his emotions in high-pressure situations. After his disappointing French Open campaign we heard him saying, “The problem is the head, that today basically I kill myself and that’s it.” Perhaps now, Rublev has understood the problem is not in his tennis skills, but somewhere else. So, he recently had to seek help from Roger Federer‘s friend to “fix” his head.

Roger Federer and Marat Safin have been good friends since they started playing against each other in the early 2000s. They even played doubles together on multiple occasions in the past. Once when Safin was asked about his favorite player, he named Federer without any hesitation. The Swiss Maestro is a symbol of calmness and composure in tennis. So how did Safin help Andrey Rublev fix his mindset? After Wimbledon, Rublev went to Barcelona to train over there and during that time, he focused fully on the mental aspect of his game.

Reflecting more on that during a recent interview, the Russian tennis star said, “I worked ‘fixing’ my head because the problem wasn’t tennis. The focus was on ‘fixing’ my head. Thank God we fixed it.” When the journalist asked him about how he managed to do that, Rublev replied, “This will be funny, Thanks to Marat Safin,” revealing that the 44-year-old former Russian tennis star helped him fight the issue.

Andrey Rublev is a big fan of Marat Safin and even Safin has, at times, shown his admiration for the young star. However, the veteran has also highlighted how Rublev needs to work on his mental aspect to level up his game further. Did you know Rublev once even asked Marat Safin to be his coach?

“I prefer to stay friends” – Roger Federer’s friend reveals the exact reason for his declination of Andrey Rublev’s offer

Marat Safin has time and again stated that Andrey Rublev needs to switch his game and play in the bigger stages of the game more frequently. He believes Rublev has the potential to beat anyone on his day. “He has a rich arsenal, good physique, light on his feet. He understands what I’m talking about. Andrey needs to learn not to break down in stressful situations,” said Safin in a past interview. According to him, not many people understand what professional sports is all about. Safin thinks it’s more about how long one can withstand stressful situations than just learning about how to hit a ball.

During an interview with Amritraj, Andrey Rublev once revealed that he “still wants to be like Marat.” He revealed they share a pretty close bond and they often meet each other in Moscow. However, when Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev once asked their compatriot to be their coach, Marat Safin declined the offer. Reason? One, he wasn’t ready to travel at that moment and the second was even more interesting. Safin said, “Once you are too close with these guys, it’s difficult to be a coach. Because you need to draw the line. I prefer to stay friends with them than become their coach and then it’s gonna be…I won’t be helpful.” Do you think Marat Safin is the right man to bring Andrey Rublev back in his tracks?