"I was walking away from Emma regardless" - Tursunov reveals new Bencic partnership had no bearing in Raducanu decision

Dmitry Tursunov gave an exclusive interview with TennisMajors about his time with Emma Raducanu explaining what had happened.

The British player created headlines when she hired Tursunov earlier this year due to his success with several other players. Many expected him to take her to the next level and while she showed improvement they parted ways not long after that with Tursunov taking on coaching duties for Bencic. When asked whether he ditched Raducanu for the Swiss player he said:

“No, I didn’t. It’s absolutely not true. I was walking away from Emma regardless of whether there was another [player] available or not. We didn’t agree on the terms and there were some red flags that just couldn’t be ignored. So that’s why it’s a little frustrating to read things like that… I wasn’t hopping from one player to another, I wouldn’t do that.”

Contrary to rumours Tursunov actually wanted to make it work sticking around even after the trial period passed:

“Our trial period was over at the US Open but I stuck around, trying to see if there was going to be a way to impress the team (he laughs). I really wanted to make it work.”

Asked about Raducanu, Tursunov had nothing but praise for her individually calling it a difficult decision to walk away:

“First of all, she’s absolutely great, she’s a hard worker and she doesn’t think or act like she’s a superstar. She is hungry to improve and is obsessed with tennis. I think it’s quite a rare combination. So I really loved working with her, and I really wanted to make it work. It was a very difficult decision for me to walk away from a player that I like and respect.”