Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina is bringing her skills back to the WTA Tour as a coach.
The 2007 US Open doubles champion and former Australian Open doubles champion Alona Bondarenko will coach WTA players and elite juniors during a five-week offseason training program at Match Point NYC in Brooklyn.
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The program, which is limited to eight WTA players and 10 juniors, will run six days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting this month at Match Point NYC.
The 30-year-old Safina, Safina, whose mother, Raouza Islanova, is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in Russian tennis history, said she's excited to begin coaching.
A recurring back injury forced Safina to retire in 2014. She won 12 WTA singles titles and is a three-time Grand Slam singles finalist.Safina relocated to New York City earlier this year and has trained at Match Point NYC.
Safina and brother Marat Safin, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July, hold a record that may well never be broken: They are the only brother and sister to hold world No. 1 singles rankings.
Photo credit: AP