"I urge her to think again" - Raducanu warned she'll be used as propaganda tool after Tursunov hiring

Emma Raducanu hired Dmitry Tursunov as her coach on a trial basis during the North American hard court swing.

The decision caught many by surprise because it seems like an unlikely pairing despite the Russian having a good track record working with WTA players. He most recently worked with Anett Kontaveit and oversaw the complete transformation of her as a player. It concluded on the day Kontaveit reached a new career high of number two due to his VISA issues.

The move was negatively received in her homeland with many questioning the pairing. It made its way into the British Parliament as well with the chair of the All Parliamentary Group on Russia, Chris Bryant advising Raducanu to reconsider:

“The Kremlin will portray this as a PR coup and an indication that the UK doesn’t really care about the war in Ukraine, so It’ll be a real shame if Emma goes ahead with this. I urge her to think again and at the very least to condemn Putin’s barbaric war.”

Asked to comment on the decision, the LTA declined to do so with another MP, Julian Knight wondering raising the issue as well:

"It does jar to see a Russian coaching Britain’s number one rising star. You would hope that the LTA would show some leadership on this and be able to advise Emma what is the best course of action."