"You're not gonna get a perfect player" - Tursonov on the reality of working with Emma Raducanu

Dmitry Tursunov is currently with Emma Raducanu in Seoul where she will take part in the Hana Bank Korea Open for the first time in her career.

She contacted the Russian before the North American trip, and he accepted the job of coaching Raducanu. Before that, his most recent engagement came to an abrupt end when he broke ways with Anett Kontaveit who was number two at the time.

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The decision to break up with Kontaveit was driven more by his Russian nationality and the challenges he had in acquiring visas than by tennis, as things were going really well there. Recently, Tursunov discussed working with Raducanu in an interview.

"I really like her. She's a great person, she's smart, she works hard," said the retired ATP pro. "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."

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"For now, she hasn't reached the level to make me lace my shoes," added Tursunov. "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."