Legendary Wimbledon host Sue Barker has defended Emma Raducanu’s decision to stick with Russian coach Dmitry Tursunov as she feels the 19-year-old Briton needs a coaching stability. After Wimbledon, Raducanu added Tursunov on a trial basis for the North American hard court swing.
Three months later, Raducanu is still working with Tursunov and he appears to be her new full-time coach. This year, Wimbledon banned Russian players from competing at Wimbledon. After Raducanu added Tursunov to her team, certain British politicians called out her move and advised her to part ways with Tursunov.
“I feel she needs one person that she really trusts and believes in,” Barker told The Telegraph. “Every coach comes in with a different mindset, a different way of wanting to play, and a different way of teaching.
And to me that would be totally confusing. It would be disruptive before it became effective. But I also feel that the pressure that she’s been put under has just been immense”.
Tursunov had a very open conversation with Raducanu
Raducanu fired three coaches in the span of less than a year.
In late April, Raducanu decided to part ways with coach Torben Beltz. Shortly after Tursunov started working with Raducanu, he sat down for a conversation with her and her team. During the conversation, Raducanu explained to Tursunov that she just couldn’t “truly connect” to any of her past coaches.
“I liked her explanation of the fact that she hasn’t been able to find someone she truly connects with and I respect that. Ultimately you want a coach that understands where you’re coming from. It’s easier to connect and some of the things you don’t have to explain.
It helps to have a good connection with someone and that explanation makes sense to me,” Tursunov revealed. After leading Aryna Sabalenka and Anett Kontaveit to success, Tursunov is hoping to do the same with Raducanu.
