'She's Smart, She Works Hard; For Now I'm Not Complaining': Tursunov On Raducanu
WTA
Emma Raducanu's coach, Dimitry Tursunov, had nothing but glowing praise for the 19-year-old during a recent interview.
After a challenging first six months of 2022, Raducanu appointed Tursunov as her new coach after Wimbledon. She felt a change in voice and direction off the court was needed to improve results.
Raducanu might have been influenced by Tursunov's successful period working with Anett Kontaveit. He helped the Estonian reach No. 2 in the world and achieve feats like finishing as the runner-up at last year's WTA Finals.
Kontaveit surprised everyone by splitting from Tursunov in June. That gave Raducanu an opportunity to appoint Tursunov despite some members of the British parliament expressing disapproval of her hiring a Russian amid the country's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The highlight of Raducanu and Tursunov's partnership so far was a victory against Serena Williams in Cincinnati. Williams bid farewell to professional tennis at the US Open, ending one of the sport's most legendary careers.
Although beating Williams was memorable, Raducanu's results have remained patchy. However, Tursunov spoke positively in an interview, saying he liked Raducanu and thinks she is a really good person.
"I really like her. She's a great person, she's smart, she works hard. We all have our own things, every player has their own quirks and character traits. Sometimes players can be stubborn or hard to coach, you're not gonna get a perfect player. I think she's a really good person, I really like her, so it makes it a little bit easier for me."
"For now, she hasn't reached the level to make me lace my shoes. You know, in old movies of martial arts, the teacher is fighting the student and loses to the student and then says 'you're ready.' So like she's not ready yet."
Raducanu and Tursunov have not worked together for very long. Tursunov's respect for Raducanu should help both of them keep working hard to find solutions for last year's US Open champion.
