The 39-year-old, who retired in 2017 after persistent injuries, took up coaching top WTA players and is currently coaching Swiss player Belinda Bencic. He has also coached the likes of Elena Vesnina, Anett Kontaveit and Emma Raducanu over the years.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Tursunov said that in his playing days, coaching girls was considered a demotion and that women were not good at coaching.
Explaining what brought him into coaching, the Russian said that he was always interested in helping other players even during his playing days. In 2011, Tursunov briefly mentored a 17-year-old Aslan Karatsev.
Tursunov is a seven-time winner on the ATP tour, winning his last singles title at 2011 ’s-Hertogenbosch.
“I really enjoy what I’m doing” - Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov said that nagging injuries forced him to retire from the sport and the fact that he couldn’t spend enough time with his loved ones. Subsequently, he took up coaching.
Elaborating on the same, Tursunov said:
In a quirk of fate, though, the Russian now travels more than he did while playing but has no qualms doing so, as he enjoys what he’s doing.
Dmitry Tursunov has been coaching Bencic since October this year.
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