Aryna Sabalenka and Emma Raducanu’s ex-coach, Dmitry Tursunov, recently spoke up about the ‘tantrums’ thrown by young WTA players under his tutelage. Tursunov, a Russian former ATP No. 20, coached Sabalenka in two stints between July 2018 and August 2020. In 2022, he served as Raducanu’s coach for three months, from July to September.
The seven-time ATP Tour-level singles titlist gave a recent interview to Sport-Express, a Russia-based sports publication. During the interview, he was asked if he ever experienced the ‘whims’ of young women’s tennis players. Tursunov answered in the affirmative, and without specifically naming anyone, remembered a particular hitting session.
“Naturally. For example, I get a message from a tennis player, I don’t have time to answer within 30-40 minutes — and she’s already throwing a tantrum. Or an incident on the court. Training. The girl leads me to the corners. When I see that another ball is flying out of bounds, I don’t run after it, and I hear: “But you tried harder before”,” Tursunov said.
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The 42-year-old former coach of Aryna Sabalenka and Emma Raducanu elaborated on the same incident later on in the interview, describing how the player started "swearing and getting hysterical" whenever he would make a mistake in hitting the ball. He also recalled how he chided the pupil subsequently.
"If the sparring is played a couple of meters to the side, the girl starts swearing, getting hysterical. The guy gets stuck, he understands that now he has no right to make a mistake, and stops hitting the court altogether," Tursunov added.
"When such situations arose, I would immediately tell my protégé: "You are a professional. Unlike sparring. Why do you have higher demands on it than on yourself? First, hit the court ten times yourself. And learn to return awkward balls. In a match, no one will play with your racket."," he concluded.
Dmitry Tursunov spearheaded Aryna Sabalenka's charge to six WTA Tour-level singles titles; Russian's spell as Emma Raducanu's coach failed to yield glory for Brit
The 2018 Connecticut Open marked Aryna Sabalenka's maiden WTA Tour-level singles title, and it came under Dmitry Tursunov's guidance. Under the Russian's tutelage, the Belarusian would go on to win five more singles titles; the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Wuhan Open, the 2019 Shenzhen Open, the 2019 Elite Trophy and the 2020 Qatar Open.
However, Tursunov's spell as Emma Raducanu's coach was a stark contrast to his time with Sabalenka. Not long after departing the Brit's camp in 2022, the Russian raised concerns regarding the 2021 US Open champion, telling Tennis Majors:
"In my opinion, she’s minimum a one-year project but I would say that she’s probably a two-and-a-half-year project to be on the safe side. Of course, it’s hard to say that and it’s hard for people to understand how it is possible because she already won the US Open. But, in my opinion, her game is very raw, and I think in many ways it could use a lot of improvement."
Both Aryna Sabalenka and Emma Raducanu were recently in action at this year's Wimbledon Championships. Interestingly, it was the Belarusian who ousted the Brit from the grass Major in the third round. The reigning No. 1 herself would finish the tournament as a semifinalist, being knocked out by eventual runner-up Amanda Anisimova.
