The struggling US Open champion Emma Raducanu has decided who is going to be her next coach. Since winning the 2021 US Open Raducanu has not won any titles but now Dmitry Tursunov will have the opportunity to work his magic again and get the 19 year old back on track.
Recently dumped by Anett Kontaveit, who he helped guide to five of her six WTA titles in the span of less than a year. Kontaveit also climbed to no. 2 in the world under Tursunov’s direction. The parting between Kontaveit and Tursunov was said to be about visa travel difficulties for the Russian coach and former ATP player who also previously coached Aryna Sabalenka to her best results.
So now Raducanu will seek to become the third consecutive WTA player to enjoy a stunning career boost from the counsel and chemistry of Tursunov.
She will make her debut with Tursunov at Citi Open which begins in a week.
39 year old Tursunov won seven ATP singles titles in his career and, ironically, the second-to-last ATP main tour match of his career was a 2017 first round loss to Gilles Muller 61 62.
Dmitry Tursunov · Emma Raducanu
catherine · July 30, 2022 at 3:27 am
Didn’t take long for the hate to start. Emma will have to have thick body armour to carry her through however many seasons she wants to stay in tennis.
Even British politicians have stuck their noses into her coaching choice and ‘fans’ have revived the untrue stories about her coaching history.
Truth: Raducanu has had precisely one WTA coach (Beltz) since she won the USO last year. Her coach then, Andrew Richardson, was never intended to be her full time coach. Apart from Beltz it’s been different coaches from the LTA team which has supported her since she was a junior.
What is it about Emma that sparks so much spite ? No one gave her the USO last year. She won it because no player beat her. She won’t win this year but that will hardly be a disgrace.
Scoop Malinowski · July 30, 2022 at 8:16 am
Catherine, it does not matter what anyone thinks, Emma Raducanu is a Grand Slam champion, most of the people criticizing her never won a match in their life and most of them probably cant properly hit a ball over a net. The lioness doesn’t care about the opinion of the sheep.
catherine · July 31, 2022 at 8:20 am
Scoop – I’ve read that Estonia, Kontaveit’s home, has imposed a ban on Russian/ Belarussian players in tournaments there, which may have influenced her decision re Tursunov.
Anett hasn’t started well with Beltz – she lost 1-6 1-6 in Prague (maybe Warsaw). Emma has a tough 1st round in Citi.
She’s meeting better players now.
More spite will flow…..
Scoop Malinowski · July 31, 2022 at 8:05 pm
Catherine I have noticed Kontaveit is mediocre without Tursunov, she should have stayed loyal to the best coach she ever had. Dumb decision and she is already surely lamenting it.
catherine · August 2, 2022 at 2:45 am
Anett might have been pressured to drop Tursunov – we don’t know. Estonia is becoming defensive.
I noticed that Ubi tennis reported that Raducanu’s deal with Tursunov is strictly a trial basis and he has a few other commitments – so it’s far from confirmed. Coaching in WTA seems in a bit of turmoil – Cahill moving over to ATP. Halep a committed fan of Patrick M now 🙂 Naomi returning to her father – commenting Fisette is ‘very ambitious’. Also I think very expensive. I’m interested to see which way the cat jumps there.
Scoop Malinowski · August 2, 2022 at 9:01 am
Catherine, most star players don’t fully commit to the new coach, they start off as a trial basis and then decide. This is to keep the coach on his toes and to be at his best, complacence in a coach is natural. One parent of an ATP player told me something very memorable about how hard it is to find the right coach, “Because the coach’s priorities are 1 himself, 2, his family, 3 money, 4 the player. Raducanu has to make sure Tursunov is a good fit personality, chemistry and knowledge wise first before making the commitment. I think Osaka took a cheap shot at Fissette calling him “very ambitious.” That implies Fissette is not happy where he’s at and is very pushy and demanding to try to raise his own status. My read is Osaka was surprised and maybe even embarrassed by being dumped and took a cheat shot as a passive aggressive revenge act.