Who is Emma?
Emma Raducanu is one of the most popular tennis players at the moment. She won everyone’s heart with her mixed genes, and her charm but mostly with her amazing tennis skills. The 20-year-old British player was born in Canada, her father Romanian and mother Chinese, and moved to London at the age of 2, where she grew up and lives today.
She reached a career-high ranking of No. 10 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) on 11 July 2022. Raducanu is the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade at the 1977 Wimbledon Championships.
In 2023 she is ranking 78. Raducanu returned to the tour at the Auckland Open in January. After defeating Czech teenager Linda Fruhvirtová in the first round, she retired in the second round after sustaining a left ankle injury. Having recovered with a short turnaround for the Australian Open, she advanced to the second round, where she was defeated by world No. 7 Coco Gauff.
Emma and her coaches
In December 2022, she started training with the German coach Sebastian Sachs as a trial until 2023. Sachs will try to revive Emma’s career, victorious at the US Open 2021 but dropped to 76th place in the world. Around the time they were still in the trial period, she stated that “so far he has a good influence” on her. This is her fifth coach in 18 months.
Raducanu ended her collaboration with coach Dmitri Tursunov at the end of October 2022. Motivating the breakup with Emma, Tursunov stated that there were “alarm signals” that he could not ignore regarding the entourage of the tennis player.
In an interview for the BBC, Emma Raducanu responded to the Russian coach and emphasized that she is “very selective” about the people who can give her advice.
“I think that’s the way I was brought up; I always had a lot of people around me. But I choose what I get from them and what I don’t. I never had a small team, but I didn’t really believe in many people. Regarding the coaches and the people in my staff, I am very selective. With the new coach, our ideas have become intertwined; he is a very good person, and I am glad that he is in my team. I feel that it is a good collaboration; I want us to continue and for it to be a lasting partnership”, said Raducanu.
After winning the US Open 2021, Emma Raducanu ended her collaboration with coach Andrew Richardson. Previously, the Brit worked with Nigel Sears. Later, Emma turned to the German Torben Beltz, with whom she collaborated until April 2022. Dmitry Tursunov was the fourth coach to leave Emma Raducanu’s team.
Dmitry Tursunov and Emma Raducanu
Dmitry Tursunov (36 years old) did not remain on friendly terms with Emma Raducanu and the athlete’s parents after the Russian decided to break the contract. The coach had a defiant attitude and liked several tweets suggesting that he “ran away” from Emma Raducanu and that the athlete is “mismanaged” by her parents.
Although he always supported his daughter in her career and helped her, Ion Raducanu is the one accused of mismanaging Emma’s career and considered a “difficult person” by the coaches they worked with. Apparently, her father is the one who decides everything for her, including her staff and how the coaches are training her.
Is this just a caring and protective father trying to help his daughter through her career? Or will his attitude just put Emma on the tennis coaches’ blacklist?
