Belinda Bencic has revealed why she wanted to hire Dimitry Tursunov, Emma Raducanu's and Anett Kontaveit's former coach.
Tursunov probably thought he would work with Kontaveit for the entire 2022 season after their success together in 2021 and in the opening months of 2022, which earned Tursunov much praise.
Kontaveit was the runner-up at the 2021 WTA Finals before winning this year's St Petersburg Open. She followed those successes by reaching the final of the Qatar Open, losing to the world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
Tennis fans worldwide were stunned when Kontaveit decided to split with Turusnov. Raducanu took the opportunity to hire the former ATP star to try and improve a challenging first season since her stunning run to the US Open title.
Although the 19-year-old had a decent run to the Korea Open semifinal last month, her results did not improve much. Tursunov initially said he believed things would get better and that Raducnu was a great person.
However, he and Raducanu parted ways earlier this month. Olympic champion Bencic wasted no time in trying to appoint Tursunov and was successful since he is now the Swiss player's coach.
Bencic discussed why she wanted to appoint Tursunov, saying he is a very good and tough coach who can help to change her perfectionist mindset, which can sometimes hinder the 25-year-old.
"I tried everything to get him. He's a very good and tough coach. I think that was a good decision. I think this is the part where I can improve the most, change this [perfectionist] mindset. I'm trying, but sometimes it's the perfectionism still in me."
"I have to change that system in my head. I have to do what I have to do, even if it's not pretty. It's a process. I'm not there yet, but it's definitely something that I'm working on."