Behind every rising star, there is a guiding light! For Diana Shnaider, a Russian tennis pro, that beacon is Igor Andreev, a coach with his own storied past! Using his experience, he is pushing his mentee to success! The 20-year-old player, who won the Hungarian and became a silver medalist at the women’s doubles in the 2024 Olympics, is now preparing for a clash with Coco Gauff in the round of 16 match at the Canadian Open. As Shnaider’s career skyrockets, the spotlight shines on Andreev’s remarkable journey: from Moscow’s tennis courts to the world stage and from player to mentor!

A former coach of Anastasia Potapova, Igor Andreev, has been guiding Diana Shnaider for almost 2 months now. However, their partnership has indeed been fruitful for the Russian player! Moreover, Andreev has brought to the table his expertise in tennis, which spans over two decades and also includes two appearances in the Olympics (2004 and 2008)!

Born in Moscow to Valeri, a businessman and mother, Marina, a housewife, the now 41-year-old player turned pro in 2002 after moving to Valencia at age 15 for training. He has a younger brother, Nikita, who also plays tennis. He had an illustrious career for more than a decade before retiring in 2013. In between, Andreev, who started playing tennis at age seven, played hundreds of matches and held a career record of 237–231 W/L in singles. 

After grinding for a year on the ATP circuit, Andreev achieved success in 2004, when he first entered the top 50 ATP rankings and also made a Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open. It was the same year he tried his luck in the French Open as well, but unfortunately fell short in the fourth round. A winner of a doubles title in Moscow, Andreev finally got to taste a victory in singles in 2005 in Spain! But just like in every player’s life, Andreev also suffered from moments of vulnerability and back-to-back losses (seven first-round defeats in 2006).

What added more to his misery was an injury that compelled him to stay out of his favorite surface, clay, in the same year. But Andreev was not letting his dark phase get the better of him! An admirer of Andre Agassi, Andreev, who can speak English, Russian, and Spanish fluently, came back in 2007 with more vigor and motivation, which soon, reflected on his performance in the Grand Slams!

A French Open quarterfinalist, Andreev started regaining his form, reached his best career rankings (No. 18) in 2008, and even played in the quarterfinals at the Monte Carlo! But little did he know that he was coming close to the last few years of his career as a tennis player. In 2011, Andreev suffered from a knee injury that halted his career’s pace. 

Although he tried to overcome it, a shoulder injury in 2012 further pulled him down while he struggled to win a match. As he took some time off the sport to heal, it further added to his loss of form in 2013. The offensive baseliner, Andreev, lost almost every match in the first round. A lover of the Russian national football team and hockey, Andreev could not perform with his usual powerful forehand strokes (which Marcos Baghdatis, a former ATP player, considered “more deadly than Nadal,“) in the French Open or at Wimbledon, ultimately announcing his retirement from tennis due to multiple injuries.

But he did not entirely leave tennis, as the Russia BJK captain (since 2018) started coaching WTA players like Potapova, whom he guided for almost three years before he joined hands with Shnaider. Recently, Diana Shnaider shared the story about how their coaching relationship started!

Diana Shnaider reveals how she was skeptical about her partnership with Igor Andreev at first

Imagine a tennis player clinching her first silver medal at the Olympics within one year of turning pro! For Diana Shnaider, this is the reality that she worked very hard to achieve. She knew that, besides everything else, a supportive coach is one of the key factors in a player’s success. It took her a long time to find the right person for his coach. But as the grass season started, she found him—Igor Andreev!

Speaking about how she was skeptical at first but later added Andreev to his team, she said, “At first I thought it was the wrong time to start. Grass is very unpredictable, and how can he get me ready for that? But we fit each other on and off the court, and I hope we will stick together for a while. [His coaching style] is very simple — but at the same time, when someone can explain hard things in simple words, it’s really great.”

As Diana Shnaider continues her ascent, Andreev’s mentorship will undoubtedly play a pivotal role. Keep an eye on this dynamic duo as they make their mark on the tennis world.