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As per the British newspaper Daily Mail, Emma Raducanu has teamed up with former Russian player and coach Dmitry Tursunov for the upcoming North American tour, albeit on a trial basis.
The 19-year-old rising star scripted history last year at the US Open as she became the first-ever player in the Open Era, male or female, to win a Grand Slam title as a qualifier. The Brit won ten matches in a row, including three qualifying matches and seven main draw encounters to lift her only WTA singles title so far.
She defeated Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the title clash and didn't drop a single set in the event. However, less than two weeks after winning the championship, Raducanu decided to part ways with the coach who led her to glory — Andrew Richardson of Britain.
The prodigy next appointed Germany's Torben Beltz, who had an impressive resume, having coached three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber. But things didn't work out the way Raducanu would have expected, and the alliance lasted only five months.
She has been without an official coach until now. Tursunov, who retired from the sport as a player in 2017, has so far coached the likes of Aslan Karatsev, Elena Vesnina, Aryna Sabalenka and Anett Kontaveit.
Interestingly, Kontaveit is now working with Raducanu's former coach Torben Beltz. Tursunov helped Sabalenka and Kontaveit reach the WTA top-5 rankings.
The Citi Open will be the first challenge for the new player-coach duo. The WTA250 event is scheduled to be played in Washington from August 1-7.
"I think that you're getting so many different viewpoints, you don't know which way to go" - Martina Navratilova on Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu recently broke into the top-10 rankings for the first time in her career. But she now faces the risk of losing a significant chunk of points if the youngster doesn't defend her title in New York next month.
Last week, the 19-year-old won the ESPY award for Best Athlete in the women's tennis category.
After the Brit won her first match at Wimbledon last month, former World No. 1 Martina Navratilova expressed concern over frequent changes in Raducanu's coaching staff.
"The first mistake was letting go of the coach who got her to the US Open title. He did a great job. There have been a lot of changes since then and I think that you're getting so many different viewpoints and then you don't know which way to go. So you need to stick with somebody to see if it works first. I hope she finds a solution, she's a great talent," Navratilova said.
