Speaking in Beijing ahead of his exhibition match against Pete Sampras, Marat Safin revealed his sister Dinara, formerly the world’s top tennis player and Olympics silver medallist, is unlikely to return to professional sport following an injury.
“If you recall, Dinara first suffered the injury in Beijing two years ago,” the former men’s world number one was quoted as saying on Saturday by Russian media.
“She tried several times to make a comeback, but it only caused her more problems.
Now she must think of herself – not whether she will be able to play again, but just to live a normal life. She must continue with her therapy, but would not be able to play again. She will make an official announcement, but speaking as her brother, I think she has no chance at all of making a comeback.”
Despite not having won any of the Grand Slam tournaments, the 25-year-old made tennis history.She and her brother are the only brother-sister tandem to achieve No.1 rankings.