Emma Raducanu’s former coach Dmitry Tursunov says he left because of ‘red flags’
Dmitry Tursunov says he decided to stop coaching Emma Raducanu at the end of his trial period with the tennis star because of “red flags” that he could not ignore.
The Russian had been working with the 19-year-old after she split with full-time coach Torben Beltz in April but has since said the pair could not agree on terms.
Tursunov is now working with Olympic champion Belinda Bencic but says that was not the reason he left Raducanu.
I was walking away from Emma regardless of whether there was another [player] available or not,” he told tennismajors.com, in an interview published on Wednesday.
“We didn’t agree on the terms and there were some red flags that just couldn’t be ignored. So that’s why it’s a little frustrating to read things like that.
“I wasn’t hopping from one player to another, I wouldn’t do that.”
Raducanu burst onto the scene in 2021, reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon before winning the US Open.
The then 18-year-old became the first qualifier in either men’s or women’s tennis to reach a grand slam final, let alone win one.
Injuries, poor form and changes to her coaching staff have contributed to disappointing results ever since and the teenager is now ranked 76th in the world.
Earlier this month, she pulled out of the Transylvania Open due to a wrist injury.
Despite her struggling to settle into the WTA Tour, Tursunov was full of praise for his former player.
