Dmitry Tursunov has revealed that he ended his tenure as Emma Raducanu’s coach because of “red flags that just couldn’t be ignored”.
Tursunov, a 39-year-old Russian who reached a career-high ranking of 20th, left Raducanu’s camp a fortnight ago after just two and a half months at the helm. He has since started working with Belinda Bencic, the 13th-ranked Swiss Olympic champion.
However, Tursunov says his decision to embark on his third coaching collaboration of the season, which he began in Anett Kontaveit’s corner, was informed by misgivings about the long-term vision of Raducanu’s camp rather than the availability of alternative employment.
“I was walking away from Emma regardless of whether there was another [player] available or not,” Tursunov told the Tennis Majors website in his first public statement since splitting with Raducanu. “We didn’t agree on the terms and there were some red flags that just couldn’t be ignored.
“I wasn’t hopping from one player to another, I wouldn’t do that.”
Tursunov made plain his admiration for the British 19-year-old’s talent and work ethic while emphasising that her development would take time, a commodity that has not been afforded those tasked with guiding her development so far.
Tursunov was the fourth coach of Raducanu’s brief career, following her spells with Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson and Torben Beltz, and the rapid rate of turnover has given rise to a perception that working with the teenager’s camp is not a straightforward task.
“She’s absolutely great, she’s a hard worker and she doesn’t think or act like she’s a superstar,” said Tursunov. “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.
“But, in my opinion, her game is very raw, and I think in many ways it could use a lot of improvement. It’s going to take some time, but as I said to her and to pretty much everyone on her team, I think you just need to have one voice and just try that for a bit.”
Ultimately, said Tursunov, he listened to his head rather than his heart in electing to part ways.
“I walked away, yes. That was my choice. I could have stuck around, I could have agreed on everything that her team proposed. But, deep down, I felt like that wasn’t the right thing to do. As difficult of a decision to walk away as it was, because I’ve never really walked away from a player, I felt like that was the right decision.
“Emotionally, I wanted to stay, but logically, I felt like I needed to leave. I felt like there were going to be problems later and I wanted to avoid them for my own peace of mind.”