World No. 13 Russian tennis player Diana Shnaider has spoken about her collaboration with former world No. 1 and now coach, Dinara Safina.
“I had high expectations for myself, and people around me also expected a lot, because now I have a higher ranking, and last year I won four titles. I was showing great results and moving up the rankings quickly,” Shnaider commented on the increased pressure. “It was just a little more psychologically challenging to come to tournaments as a favorite, to go far and everything like that.”
She explained how Safina helps her navigate these challenges: “I started working with Dinara, and we are working a lot on controlling negative emotions. She helps me greatly with this, and she sees when I am struggling with emotions. She says: `It’s okay. Don’t rush. Take a towel, use your 30 seconds. Just control it and think about the next point,` or `If you made a mistake, and it was a very simple one, just think about that ball, what you did wrong, and what you need to do better so you don’t make the same mistake next time.`”
Rupert Hartwell 
Adrian Whitmore