After three long and fruitless months, tennis superstar Emma Raducanu’s search for a new coach has ended. From now on, a former professional takes over the place at the side of the young Briton, for whom a lot is at stake in the next few weeks.
About a month before the start of the US Open in New York, tennis superstar Emma Raducanu found a new coach. The 19-year-old’s management confirmed to the “Daily Mail“that the former Russian professional player Dmitry Tursunov will take over the care of the Brit with immediate effect.
Raducanu’s long unsuccessful search for a coach was repeatedly discussed in tennis circles. The US Open winner from the previous year separated from the German Torben Beltz at the end of April and has been on the tour without a coach since then. But neither with Beltz nor without did the hoped-for success come about.
With twelve tournament participations in 2022, Raducanu only made it to one quarter-final. At the three Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris and London, it was already over in the second round. Many identified the unsuccessful search for a trainer as the reason for the sporting nosedive of last year’s high-flyer.
The former world number 20 proved that Tursunov knows his trade. most recently alongside Estonian Anett Kontaveit, who made a big leap under the Russian and made it to second place in the world rankings.
Raducanu is apparently hoping for a very similar leap. Despite her crisis, she is currently still ranked 10th in the women’s world rankings, but will soon lose this place if she also fails early at the US Open in New York. The pressure is correspondingly high before the “mission to defend the title”, which hardly anyone believes is possible today.