Emma Raducanu has reportedly hired a new coach as she gears up for her US Open title defence.
The British number one will be guided by 2006 Davis Cup winner Dmitry Tursunov and next week’s Washington Open will mark their first tournament working together.
According to the MailOnline , if their initial spell working together is a success, he will guide the teen through the North American hardcourt swing which will finish with her second appearance at Flushing Meadows. The former world number 20 retired from tennis in 2017 and has coached some impressive names over the last five years.
He has worked with Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, plus world doubles number one Elena Vesnina and Russian Aslan Karatsev from the ATP Tour. Most recently, Tursunov worked with Estonian Anett Kontaveit and the pair split last month after less than a year together.
During their time working together, she surged from No 30 to inside the Top 10 in the last quarter of 2021, a run in which she won four titles in nine events and qualified for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico - where she lost to Garbine Muguruza in the final. By cracking the Top 10, she became the highest-ranked Estonian in WTA history and reached a career-high ranking of number two in June and remains in that spot.
Tursunov will be Raducanu’s first full-time coach since she split with Torben Beltz after just five months back in April. During that period she received guidance from a number of figures, such as Canadian Louis Cayer, Head of the Lawn Tennis Association’s women’s division Iain Bates, and during Wimbledon former LTA coach Jane O’Donoghue.
Tursunov is said to be forthright with his coaching style, which is perhaps just what Raducanu needs as she bids to return to the form she showed en route to winning in New York last year. The Bromley local has made just two quarter-finals appearances since her US Open triumph and has struggled with multiple injuries so far this season.
Tursunov gave an insight into his coaching technique during an interview with tennis.com . “Sometimes I enjoy acting like an idiot, but I really know what I’m talking about and I’m passionate about it,” he said.
“You need to have the other person agree with the process, and you have to find better ways of communicating and getting your point across.
“And, of course, players are quite sensitive - they're one of the best in their fields. It's about showing them they have room to improve.”
