Dmitry Tursunov said he decided not to continue coaching Emma Raducanu at the end of a trial period with the former US Open champion as they could not agree terms and there were “red flags” he could not ignore.
Raducanu won the US Open in 2021 but has since fallen to 76th in the WTA rankings.
The 19-year-old Briton has been without a full-time coach since splitting with German Torben Beltz in April and spent some time this year working with Tursunov. The Russian left Raducanu’s camp at the end of their trial period and is now coaching the Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.
“I was walking away from Emma regardless of whether there was another [player] available or not. We didn’t agree on the terms and there were some red flags that just couldn’t be ignored,” he told tennismajors.com in an interview published on Wednesday. “Our trial period was over at the US Open but I stuck around, trying to see if there was going to be a way to impress the team.
“She’s absolutely great, she’s a hard worker and she doesn’t think or act like she’s a superstar … It was a very difficult decision for me to walk away from a player that I like and respect.”
“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.”
Raducanu’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Raducanu, who pulled out of the Transylvania Open due to a wrist injury this month, is scheduled to play in next month’s Billie Jean King Cup finals.
