9 Tennis Players Who Were Coached by Their Mothers

Istomin defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open. He is coached by his mother Klaudiya Istomina who introduced her son to the game...

Puneet Ahlawat

Tennis is a very demanding sports, where a role of a coach is very important from the day a player picks up the racket. We have seen players changing coaches after a certain period of time. Novak Djokovic is no more the same player after parting ways with Boris Becker while Rafael Nadal has been with his uncle Toni Nadal since his first day in tennis. The recently concluded Australian Open also saw a player coached by his mother. Denis Istomin was an unknown player before the first grand slam of the year but his sensational victory against Djokovic, the world number two, made him an overnight star. He is coached by his mother. A number of tennis players have been coached by their mothers and many of them have become big stars. Here is a list of 9 such players who have been coached by their mothers.

MARAT SAFIN AND DINARA SAFINA

Marat Safin is a Russian politician and retired professional tennis player. He first achieved the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 1 singles ranking on November 20, 2000. He was also famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper on court. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2000 US Open after defeating Pete Sampras, and won the 2005 Australian Open, defeating Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the final. Safin helped lead Russia to Davis Cup victories in 2002 and 2006. Safin is the older brother of former world No. 1 WTA player, Dinara Safina. They are the first and only brother– sister tandem in tennis history who have both achieved No. 1 rankings. Safina was runner-up in singles at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and the 2009 French Open. She has had success at Grand Slam events in women’s doubles by winning the 2007 US Open with Nathalie Dechy. Rauza Islanova, the mother of both, laid the foundation for her son Marat and daughter Dinara to become world class tennis players. Islanova coached Marat in their native Moscow until he was 14 while Dinara was coached by her mother until 2003 when she was 17. These two tennis stars have spoken highly about the contribution their mother had in the professional careers.

DENIS ISTOMIN