The ATP Tour has quickly moved from hard courts to clay, with the Monte Carlo Masters having now arrived.
Carlos Alcaraz can shine on clay this season, which represents the first such season without Rafael Nadal since 2002.
Nadal retired last season with 22 Grand Slam titles to his name, 14 of which arrived on the clay courts of the French Open.
Bjorn Borg is his nearest competitor with six, although it is Nadal’s former rival Novak Djokovic who has the most men’s Grand Slam titles of all time.
The Serbian tops the list with 24, and can add to that tally at this year’s French Open, which gets underway next month.
Tracy Austin says Andrey Rublev hiring Marat Safin is ‘worth a try’
He has joined forces with three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, with Andrey Rublev following suit by appointing Marat Safin to his coaching time.
And his fellow former professional Tracy Austin has now shared her verdict on that pairing, saying on Tennis Channel: “I don’t know, I mean, we’ve seen Andrey Rublev break his rackets out there, hit his leg, and I thought maybe somebody a little more calm than Marat Safin would come on board.
READ MORE: Jimmy Connors shares his opinion on Andrey Rublev’s decision to hire Marat Safin as his new coach
“But we know that Marat Safin has won majors, so maybe it’s that knowledge that will help Rublev break that quarter-final barrier that he seems to have gotten to.
“And you know also maybe it’s just being around a guy that’s a whole lot of fun. Marat Safin, I’ve been around him, every room that he is in, he lights it up, something new, something different to add to the team so it’s worth a try.”
Marat Safin told he could have won six Grand Slam titles if he was more professional
Rublev has seemingly been needing more guidance in recent times, with fellow Russian Safin likely to help out in that regard.
The former currently occupies ninth in the ATP rankings, but is on a three-match losing streak ahead of the Monte Carlo Masters.
That poor run remarkably comes immediately after he beat Jack Draper to win the Qatar Open in February.
Safin meanwhile reached world number one during his fantastic career, which included two Grand Slam titles and two Grand Slam final defeats.
But according to Austin, who also reached world number one and won two Grand Slams, Safin could and perhaps should have enjoyed more success.
“I’m a fan of the way that he played,” she said. “I mean, the way that he beat Pete Sampras at the US Open, the talent level that Marat had, what he brought to the court.
“Honestly, I will say that I think he could have won five, six majors if he had been maybe a little bit more professional, but he did it his way.
“You know he won those big titles and we’re lucky that we had him in the sport because he certainly played a terrific brand of tennis.”
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