Andrey Rublev Shares His Pre-Season Preparation with Marat Safin: “He is Killing me”

Andrey Rublev is training hard alongside his coach, Marat Safin, ahead of the 2026 season.

Andrey Rublev Shares His Pre-Season Preparation with Marat Safin: “He is Killing me”

Marat Safin and Andrey Rublev (via X/The Tennis Letter)

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Andrey Rublev will be desperate to make the 2026 season better than the last. After a disappointing 2025 season, in which he failed to make it past the fourth round of any Grand Slam, the Russian star is motivated to turn things around in his career, and his coach, Marat Safin, is bent on helping him reach the heights he has set.

One of Rublev’s main challenges this season was his lack of consistency on the court. After winning the Qatar Open in February, where he defeated Jack Draper in the final, he has not been at his best. He has managed to reach only one final after Qatar, and that came at the Hamburg Open in May; however, he lost the title to Italian star Flavio Cobolli in straight sets.

Rublev’s best run in a Grand Slam this season came at the French Open, Wimbledon Championship, and the US Open, reaching the round of 16 of each of them before crashing out. He lost to Jannik Sinner on the Clay major event in Paris and then to Carlos Alcaraz at the All England Club in London.

He has won only one match since the US Open, and within that period, he played in three tournaments. The former top 10 star’s worst performance of the season came at the Australian Open, where he lost to Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca in straight sets in the first round. Four months later, he hired Marat Safin as his coach with the hopes of changing his performance.

However, that has yet to yield any substantial good on the court. Speaking with Greg Rusedski on his new podcast, Off Court with Greg, Rublev admitted that their new training regime was killing him, such was the toughness. The former World No.5 noted that fitness for every practice session takes two and a half hours:

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.

This is the first year since 2022 that Rublev has been outside the Top 10. He’s currently ranked World No.16 in ATP rankings, failing to feature in the ATP Finals in November. His last two tournaments were at the Vienna Open and Paris Masters, crashing out in the first round after losing to British star Cameron Norrie and to Ben Shelton in the round of 16, respectively.

Alex de Minaur hopes to challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz next season

Alex de Minaur offered some insight into his off-season preparation ahead of the 2026 season. The Australian star is seeking to reach the level of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner next season. Alcaraz and Sinner are currently the two best players on tour and have shown in the past two years that they are better than other players.

Alex de Minaur, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner (via X/The Tennis Letter)
Alex de Minaur, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner (via X/The Tennis Letter)

The World No.7 had a great season by his own standards, featuring in the ATP Finals in Turin and winning the Citi Open. During the aforementioned interview, De Minaur was asked about his own training ahead of next season. The Aussie revealed that he’s going through a lot of technical drills to reach the level of Alcaraz and Sinner:

The ultimate goals in men’s tennis are to try and reach those two players now. They have been dominating the sport for the last couple of year. I am in pre-season now and I’m just getting ready. We have got certain areas that are quite technical that I want to work on an improve. The serve is always a work in progress. That is something I would put a lot of hours into.

De Minaur will hope to become the first man from his country to win the Australian Open. He reached the quarter-finals of the tournament this season, but fell eventually to Sinner in straight sets. Next year, he will be hoping to reach the championship match of a Grand Slam tournament.

Also Read: Former ATP Player Gives Verdict on Who Will Challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner Next Year