Coach Dmitry Tursunov revealed Belinda Bencic first asked him to work together while he was still working with Emma Raducanu. Because Tursunov already had a commitment, he had to decline Bencic’s offer. But after his partnership with Raducanu ended, Tursunov called Bencic to ask if she was still interested in adding him to her coaching staff.
“She didn’t really need to do a lot of convincing! She called me and asked me if I was available and if I was interested in working with her. I told her that right now I’m working with Emma so that was obviously out of the question, but that I’d let her know if something was to change.
And then when with Emma we couldn’t come to an agreement, then that’s when I called Belinda. I said it looks like I’m available so we met, we talked, and then we just decided to start working together,” Tursunov told Tennis Majors.
Tursunov: Bencic fully committed right from the start
After Wimbledon, Raducanu added Tursunov to her coaching staff on a trial basis. With Bencic, it was different. Bencic, the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, had an extremely high opinion of Tursunov and immediately added the Russian coach as her new full-time coach.
“With Belinda, her approach was very different: there was no trial, she just said, ‘Listen, I’ve read stuff about you, I’ve seen how you work, I want to work with you. So, what’s it going to take?’ After two or three days of conversations, we made a decision.
So, in that sense, it was much easier. The commitment was staggering,” Tursunov added. Last week in Guadalajara, Tursunov and Bencic debuted as a coach/player duo. In Guadalajara, Bencic won her opener before losing to Sloane Stephens in the round-of-16.
In the past, Tursunov helped Aryna Sabalenka and Anett Kontaveit become top-10 players. With Bencic, Tursunov’s goal will be to help the Swiss achieve her goal of winning a Grand Slam.
