Article by Mihai Șovei – Published on Thursday, 23 April 2026, 09:54 / Updated on Thursday, 23 April 2026 09:59
Marat Safin (46), a former leader in the ATP ranking, traveled to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and published several new photos.
In the published images, Safin appears in an unusual position. With a turban on his head and sunglasses, with a rucksack on his back, he looks more like a desert traveler than a former Grand Slam champion.
PHOTO. Marat Safin, nomad in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco
Marat Safin, a well-known tennis player in the 2000s, visited the Moroccan highlands for a unique journey. The latest photos he shared show him in the heart of the Atlas mountain range, one of the most spectacular on the African continent, where he spent his time surrounded by wild nature.
One of the photos particularly surprised fans. Safin lying on a thin mattress in the middle of the mountains, using a backpack as a pillow, while there is nothing around him but a tent and gorgeous scenery.
“Our home – Mother Nature”was the description the former athlete chose to use.
The reaction online was immediate. Just a day after they were posted, the photos generated a massive buzz, garnering 40k likes and over 700 comments.
It's no secret that Safin has been searching for meaning in life outside of sports, traveling to remote parts of the world such as Tibet and Peru, according to tennis.com.
Life after tennis
Marat Safin was ranked number one in the ATP world rankings for nine weeks. He first reached the top spot on 20 November 2000 at the age of 20, and held the position for three different periods between November 2000 and April 2001.
During his career, the Russian won 2 Grand Slam tournaments, both on hard courts: the US Open in 2000 and the Australian Open in 2005.
Since his retirement in 2009, Safin has been an official of the Russian Tennis Federation and a member of the Russian Olympic Committee. Two years later, in December 2011, Safin was elected to the Russian Parliament as a member of Vladimir Putin's United Russia Party, representing Nizhny Novgorod.
In the spring of 2025, Safin began training the player Andrey Rublev. Surprisingly, while his student is currently participating in the tournament in Madrid, Marat chose to post images from the mountains.
