Emma Raducanu: British No. 1 ‘loves tennis too much not to figure it out’ says former coach Dmitry Tursunov

Dmitry Tursunov has backed Emma Raducanu to “figure things out” and navigate “bumpy roads” to improve her game, describing her as “fanatical” about tennis.

Raducanu burst onto the scene with her shock US Open victory in 2021.

She has faced a challenging period since then, struggling with injuries and also not being able to settle on a full-time coach.

Tursunov, who now coaches world No. 9 Belinda Bencic, says Raducanu is “too smart” not to improve and that she was a hard worker during their time together.

“Sooner or later, she’s just going to sort it out. She’s too smart of a person not to sort it out you know. She loves tennis too much not to figure it out.

“It’s just a question of how long it’s going to take her and how difficult the road is going to be. But, I think she’s the person who is willing to go a bumpy road.

“She needs to develop her game to more all around. She needs to develop these weapons that are not super powerful. To develop that it takes more time.

“Is she going to allow that time for some of those changes to occur? If the road is too long then you might just abandon it halfway thinking you are not going to get there; does she have the patience to go through with it and does she have the right people around her to help navigate those roads?”

Raducanu, who is now coached by Sebastian Sachs, lost in the second round of the Australian Open after suffering an ankle injury earlier in the year in Auckland.

“I was super happy with her,” added Tursunov.

“She’s super young. But, she’s very demanding of herself and she pushes herself a lot.

“She’s super tough on herself but to me, I felt like she’s an incredible and intelligent person. When you talk to her, you just forget, she’s 19 or 20. And so, in that sense, I really enjoyed every second of it.”

Tursunov parted ways with Raducanu in October 2022.

“I felt like she was making pretty good progress,” he said.

“I don’t know if it was physical or not physical, but I felt like she played more aggressive, using the whole court better, playing better patterns. I felt like there was improvement in her game, which again comes down to how much the player is willing to get out of their comfort zone.

“She’s fanatical, she loves tennis and wants to improve.”