Dinara Safina explains how women’s tennis has changed since she stopped playing with Coco Gauff benefiting
A former World number player has explained how the likes of Coco Gauff are benefiting from a big change in women’s tennis.
The 2024 WTA season is now at an end and it was a big year for some players who will look to build on that momentum in 2025.
One of those who is closely watching the tour is Dinara Safina, who retired from professional tennis in 2014 aged just 28.
The 38-year-old, who reached the summit of women’s tennis in 2009, thinks there has been a significant change to the game during her era and the current game.
What tennis change does Dinara Safina think Coco Gauff is benefiting from?
Safina was playing when the likes of Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova were at the top of their game.
This makes the Russian’s six-month stint as World number one in 2009 all the more remarkable as she competed against some of the best players of all time.
Safina praised their consistency, and claimed the players of today do not possess that same ability to consistently reach the latter end of tournaments.
She even mentioned Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula as being inconsistent, but praised Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, the WTA’s top two players.
Gauff won three titles in 2024 and made two Grand Slam finals, but suffered crushing defeats in five successful tournaments throughout the summer, including Wimbledon, the Paris Olympics and the US Open.
“In my time, there were more stable players. There were Serena and Venus Williams, Davenport, Mauresmo, Henin, Sharapova, Clijsters and so on,” Safina told media outlet Championat.
“Everyone was stable all year round, they rarely had easy losses. The top 10 was very tight, you couldn’t touch the girls. And now someone can fail three or four tournaments and then return to the top 10.
“Now there is Gauff, Pegula, but they are all unstable. Only Sabalenka and Swiatek played the whole season almost without slumps.”
What did Dinara Safina say about being the World number one?
In 2009, Safina followed in the footsteps of her brother and two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin by becoming the World number one.
As mentioned previously she remained there for six months, and during that year she won three championships.
As great an honour as it was to reach the top of the women’s game, Safina expressed the difficulties of being in that position, especially without a Grand Slam title to her name.
“I always had a dream to be famous, No 1 and all this, but then suddenly I felt so much pressure being there. I didn’t expect that I would have this pressure,” she told The Guardian back in 2020.
“I thought it was going to be fun, you know? You become famous, you become No 1. And everybody is happy. It’s actually the opposite! Everybody wants to beat you.”
