Outfit of the Day: Marat Safin brings cool-guy aura, and stylish sunglasses, to Monte Carlo

The tennis world can’t get enough of Marat Safin’s return to the tour—or of his “Johnny Depp vibes,” off-the-charts “aura” and inimitable style.

All eyes were on the former world No. 1 as Safin made his debut in Andrey Rublev’s coaching box on Thursday at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, joining coaches Fernando Vicente and Alberto Martin. The Safin-Rublev partnership is now officially 1-0, after Rublev edged past Gael Monfils’ 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the second round.

Read More: No logic, just a feeling: Andrey Rublev "always knew" he wanted to work with Marat Safin

Speaking to Paul Annecone and Mark Petchey on Tennis Channel Live, Andy Roddick said the No. 9-ranked Russian’s new coaching hire makes “a lot of sense” for many reasons.

“Sometimes you just need a different voice… Sometimes you need to bring in a Marat Safin to look you in the eyes and say: You’re a little nuts, I’m a little nuts. You like wearing goofy sunglasses, I like wearing goofy sunglasses,” Roddick said.

“And we can both hit winners off the forehand and backhand side at any moment. This seems like a great match.”

“Side note, I don’t think anyone looks cooler than Marat Safin,” Roddick added. “He’s not getting older, and it’s annoying for the rest of us.”

👉 PHOTOS: Andrey Rublev, Marat Safin serve all the moments at Monte Carlo practice

Safin cut a stylish figure as he hit the practice courts over the weekend at UTS Nimes with Rublev, as they geared up for Monte Carlo at the exhibition event. His laidback look featured a white t-shirt, hoodie and sweatpants, with Safin completing the look with Ray-Ban’s Octagonal Legend sunglasses ($180) and colorful Swatch Neon Jelly wristwatch ($165).

Both the partnership and Safin’s style also earned the approval of another former American No. 1, as John Isner said: “I’m bullish on the partnership, just because of how smooth that guy is.”

Isner was discussing the coaching news on the latest episode of the Nothing Major podcast with Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, and Jack Sock—but they got derailed by the Russian’s off-the-charts “aura”.

“He’s got these little glasses, and he’s wearing baggy clothes because he doesn’t give a crap about what he looks like… the little goatee thing going on,” Isner described. “His aura is off the charts. So smooth."

His comments prompted Sock to search social media for a recent photo, with the pickleball pro eventually declaring that Safin gave off “Johnny Depp vibes.”

"Hands down the smoothest coach in the world, right? There’s not a close second,” Isner concluded.

Thankfully for tennis fans worldwide, Rublev’s straight-sets on Wednesday didn’t just snap a three-match losing streak and earn his first ATP Masters 1000 victory since Cincinnati last year. It also means we’ll get to see more of Safin—and his cool-guy style—in the Rublev camp.

The 2023 champion moved into the round of 16, where he will face No. 12 seed Arthur Fils on Wednesday.