Marat Safin: Yevgeny Kafelnikov Would Have Made a Great Coach

Former World No. 1 tennis star Marat Safin says his countryman Yevgeny Kafelnikov would have made a great coach, in an Instagram Live session with Christopher Kas on his show "Kasi Live"

Safin, who worked with another former tennis champion Mats Wilander for a short time during his career, said that Kafelnikov understands the game of tennis like no other and also had the experience of being a top player. "Kafelnikov would have been a great coach."

During the 2008 Miami Masters, Kafelnikov did work briefly with Safin in the absence of Safin's regular coach Hernán Gumy at the time.

The Russian also said he had no plans to get into coaching any players himself, although he was captain of the Russian team at the ATP Cup earlier this year.

The 46 year old Kafelnikov is former World No. 1 tennis player. He won two Grand Slam singles titles, the 1996 French Open and the 1999 Australian Open and also won four Grand Slam doubles titles, being the last man to have won both the men's singles and doubles titles at the same Grand Slam tournament (the 1996 French Open).

Kafelnikov also won the gold medal in the men's singles tournament at the 2000 Olympic Games, was a finalist at the 1997 ATP Tour World Championships and a member of Russia's Davis Cup winning team in 2002. His last event was the St. Petersburg ATP event in 2003.

Safin went on to play for a few more years post Kafelnikov's retirement, and played his last match on the tennis circuit in 2009.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2wNDfd4