Emma Raducanu’s ex-coach criticised after splitting from fourth player in 18 months | Tennis | Sport
Dmitry Tursunov has been criticised after parting ways with Veronika Kudermetova. The world No 19 is the fourth player to split with Russian coach since June 2022 and she believes his approach is “too direct”. Tursunov’s partnership with Kudermetova followed spells with Belinda Bencic, Emma Raducanu and Anett Kontaveit.
Tursunov has built a name for himself as a well-known tennis coach, working with a string of top players. But the 40-year-old’s methods have often been seen as unconventional, and he previously had a turbulent on-and-off coaching relationship with world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka before their final split in 2019.
Since then, the former ATP world No 20 hasn’t been able to keep a long-term coaching role, with his latest stint serving as an example. Tursunov started working with fellow Russian Kudermetova this summer after being spotted in her box during Wimbledon. But the 26-year-old has already decided to end their partnership as she criticised his approach.
“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.”
Kudermetova is also coached by her husband Sergey Demkhine who adopts a similar style, though she added: “But I can also say no to him.” And Demkhine believes that a whole season with Tursunov would be too difficult. It means that Tursunov is back on the market after going through a fourth player in 18 months.
He previously worked with former world No 2 Anett Kontaveit. They were together for 10 months before Kontaveit announced their mutual separation in June 2022. The Russian coach then joined Raducanu’s team on a trial basis a few weeks later, guiding her through the North American hard-court swing.
She was able to defeat Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams back-to-back during that time though she lost in the first round of the US Open during her title defence. Tursunov extended their trial and worked with Raducanu in Korea where she reached the semi-final but he then dropped the Brit and started working with Olympic champion Belinda Bencic almost immediately but they parted ways in April 2023.
The 40-year-old later gave a damning verdict of his time in Raducanu’s camp, admitting that there were some issues around her wider team though he loved her approach and wanted it to work out. “I was walking away from Emma regardless of whether there was another player available or not,” he said.
“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.”