Emma Raducanu has reportedly struck a deal to collaborate with coach Dimitry Tursunov with the possibility of continuing to work with him throughout the North American swing.
The Daily Mail has been informed via Raducanu’s management team that the two will work together at the Citi Open in Washington which will take place during the first week of August. If all goes to plan, the two will then continue their partnership on the Tour. Raducanu has been without a principal coach since separating with Torben Beltz back in April after five months together.
Russia’s Tursunov has a wealth of experience as both a player and coach. The 39-year-old reached a high of No.20 in 2006 and won seven ATP titles. Since retiring, he has worked with Elena Vesnina and Aryana Sabalenka. More recently, he oversaw Anett Kontaveit’s breakthrough into the world’s top 10. The Estonian ended her collaboration with Tursunov earlier this year over to his difficulties in obtaining a visa due to his nationality. Since the Ukraine war, some countries have implemented stricter entry requirements for Russian nationals.
Despite her young age, Raducanu has already worked with various coaches on the Tour. After reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last year she replaced Nigel Sears with Andrew Richardson who guided her to the US Open title. In New York, she became the first qualifier in history to win a major title after winning 10 matches in a row without dropping a set. However, she decided not to continue working with Richardson after her triumph at the US Open. She then turned to Beltz who has more experience of working on the WTA Tour.
It was shortly after Raducanu’s split with Richardson when Tursunov said in an interview that he would ‘tremble in fear’ if he worked with the tennis star.
“There is such a term “coaching carousel” when coaches go in a circle. Now Emma Raducanu, who won the US Open, is laying off the people she worked with. Naturally, everyone is shocked. If someone from her team called me now and asked if I wanted to train her, I would tremble with fear because you don’t know when you will be fired,” he told metaratings.ru on November 3rd 2021.
Those past reservations appear to be no more for Tursonov who will be hoping to aid Raducanu’s return back to her best form. So far this season she has recorded a win-loss record of 9-12 on the WTA Tour with her best results being a run to the quarter-finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. However, she has failed to win back-to-back matches in her past four tournaments. Raducanu has also been hampered by a series of physical issues in recent months, including a side strain she developed during the grass swing.
According to her summer schedule, Raducanu will also play the Canadian Open and Western & Southern Open before heading to the US Open, which starts on August 29.
.
