Former Australian Open champion Marat Safin has returned to Melbourne Park this week and appears to be working with Russian star Andrey Rublev.
It comes 24 years after the former world No 1 made headlines at the Happy Slam, where he surpassed Pete Sampras, Tommy Haas and Wayne Ferreira to reach the 2002 men’s singles final.
In the showpiece event, Safin would ultimately suffer a 6-4 4-6 4-6 6-7 (4-7) defeat by Swede Thomas Johansson at Rod Laver Arena.
While he agonisingly fell short of claiming his second Grand Slam title, having previously won the US Open in 2000, the Russian tennis star turned heads that day for other reasons.
Ahead of the match, three glamorous women walked into the stands at Rod Laver Arena and sat down in Safin’s VIP box.
They were dubbed the Safinettes by one outlet and had been spotted supporting the Russian star from the stands throughout the tournament.
Former Australian Open champion Marat Safin has returned to Melbourne Park this week and appears to be working with Russian star Andrey Rublev
Safin claimed victory at the Australian Open back in 2005, having finished as a runner-up twice previously in 2002 and 2004
During his 2002 final defeat, Safin had turned heads after three glamorous ladies sat down in his players’ VIP box (Pictured L-R: Di Vekosa, Anna Gorski and Katya Bestojeva)
The trio included Di Vekosa, a financial analyst, Anna Gorski, who had been studying marketing at Monash University, and Katya Bestojeva, a model from Moscow.
‘I’ve got to know Marat over the past few years, and he’s a really nice guy,’ Vekosa had said. ‘I’ve been watching from the players’ box all tournament. It’s great to be able to support him like this.’
She added: ‘Marat’s a great guy and really down to earth, but there’s nothing going on there.’
Vekosa is understood to have been introduced to Safin by Aussie star Mark Philippoussis.
Safin had thanked his family members for supporting him during the fortnight, but the glamorous blondes were not seen in the VIP box the following year at the 2003 Australian Open.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, the Russian tennis star broke his silence on who the ladies were.
‘Let’s put it this way, I have nothing to do with these ladies. I’m not going to explain, but I have nothing to do with that, I swear to God,’ he said, before adding: ‘They are not my types.’
‘They were friends of my friends who asked me to get them tickets. I got them tickets, it’s not a problem.’
The former world No 1 returned to feature in Wednesday evening’s One Point Slam, where he was knocked out in the second round by Frances Tiafoe (right)
The Russian proved that talent never truly does go away, despite hitting a groundstroke into the net to crash out of the event
Two years later, Safin would go on to beat a 14-year-old Novak Djokovic in straight sets, before outlasting Roger Federer in the semi-final. He would then go on to defeat Lleyton Hewitt to avenge the heartache of finishing as a runner-up in 2002 and again in 2004.
Safin has returned to Melbourne Park this week and took part in the Australian Open’s newest event, the One Point Slam.
He advanced past the first round of the event, but was beaten in his second match by Frances Tiafoe.
Later on Thursday, he was seen on court coaching Rublev.
Safin was appointed to Rublev’s coaching team in April 2025, with the Russian star adding that he hopes the pair can work together for ‘a really long time’.
‘I hope [he will be my coach] for really long, but it depends if he will enjoy working with me or he will suffer,’ Rublev said.
‘Because if he feels that I’m not doing the things or I’m not listening, I don’t think he will waste his time.
‘For the moment, I’m just trying to listen and to try new things. We’ll see how it will work, or what it will bring, or what’s going to happen.’
Safin (left) has been coaching Andrey Rublev (right) at this summer’s Australian Open
But it appears Safin has been putting his compatriot through his paces during the off-season, with Rublev recently revealing during the Off Court With Greg Rusedski podcast that his team had been ‘killing him’.
‘For me, it’s crazy because now with Marat and members of my team, they are killing me,’ he said.
‘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 Russian world No 14, will take on Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in the first round and could face off in the second round against either Arthur Cazaux or Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria.
