Emma Raducanu's former coach, Dmitry Tursunov has parted ways with a fourth player in the space of 18 months with Veronika Kudermetova, the World No.19 the latest to decide his methods aren't for her.
The Russian ace said he is 'too direct' as a coach and she joins Belinda Bencic, Anett Kontaveit and Raducanu as well as previously Aryna Sabalenka among those to have worked with and then ditched the coach.
Dmitry Tursunov on Emma Raducanu: “Sooner or later, she’s going to sort it out. She loves tennis too much not to figure it out. It’s just a question of how long it will take her & how difficult the road will be. But I think she’s the person who’s willing to go a bumpy road”
Building a name for himself through his stint with Aryna Sabalenka, that was even fraught with being unconventional and the duo having a turbulent coaching relationship which ceased in 2019 after being on and off for some time. She has since gone on to become World No.1 and a Grand Slam champion without his tutelege.
The former World No.20 was seen in the box of Kudermetova at Wimbledon and has worked with her since through a good patch of the season for the Russian, but they have split due to his methods being criticised openly by her.
“What happens is that he is too direct a person,” the world No 19 explained. “We players are very emotional, we have to be a little tactful, especially when you tell us what we should do, or when you don't care at all what we want to do.”
Also perhaps the phrase too many chefs comes to mind for Kudermetova, with her husband Sergey Demkhine also coaching her and also employing a different style albeit she said that she can say no to him despite their relationship off court. Tursunov's most famous pupil was Raducanu albeit during her coaching merry go round.
He joined her team on a trial basis during the North American swing in 2022 and through her documented injury struggles, he extended their trial into Korea where she reached the semi-finals albeit she was soon dropped and Belinda Bencic was next up.
“I was walking away from Emma regardless of whether there was another player available or not,” he said at the time.
“We didn’t agree on the terms and there were some red flags that just couldn’t be ignored. 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. So I really loved working with her, and I really wanted to make it work.”
