Aryna Sabalenka and Emma Raducanu’s Ex-Coach Recalls WTA Player “Throwing a Tantrum” During Training Session

Aryna Sabalenka will play the Cincinnati Open next to kick-start her campaign on the North American hard-court swing.

Aryna Sabalenka and Emma Raducanu’s Ex-Coach Recalls WTA Player “Throwing a Tantrum” During Training Session

Emma Raducanu, Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/Mirror Sport)

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Aryna Sabalenka‘s former coach, Dmitry Tursunov, recalled working with WTA players during a recent interview. Tursunov considers his approach to coaching “unconventional,” believing that while working with girls, instead of being permissive and indulgent, he must be hard toward them. Because, according to him, this brings results.

His partnership with Sabalenka didn’t last for a long time. There were also conflicts between the two, and the Belarusian even wanted her off her team, but her sponsors didn’t let that happen.

Apart from the World No.1, Tursunov has worked with Anett Kontaveit, Emma Raducanu, Belinda Bencic, and Veronika Kudermetova. During an interview with Sport Express, Tursunov talked about the training session with a WTA player (he didn’t reveal the name), who, according to him, started to swear and get hysterical when her hitting partner made some mistakes.

For example, I get a message from a tennis player, I don’t have time to answer within 30-40 minutes, and she’s already throwing a tantrum. Or an incident on the court. Training. The girl leads me to the corners. When I see that another ball is flying out of bounds, I don’t run after it, and I hear: ‘But you tried harder before’.

Sabalenka’s longtime sparring partner, Anton Dubrov, has become her coach. She and Tursunov split in 2019 but joined forces once again later. At the end of the year, however, they once again parted ways, this time, permanently.

Jack Sock calls Aryna Sabalenka the favorite to win the US Open over Iga Swiatek

Aryna Sabalenka has played seven finals and lifted three titles so far this season. Twice she played Grand Slam finals: at the Australian Open and the French Open.

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/WTA)

But the three-time Grand Slam singles champion is still searching for her first Major of the season. In Melbourne, Madison Keys denied her the three-peat, while in Paris, Coco Gauff lifted her second Grand Slam singles title.

At Wimbledon, Sabalenka once again failed to reach the final. In the last four, eventual runner-up Amanda Anisimova knocked her out in three sets. Anisimova later ended up losing the final to Iga Swiatek with a 6-0, 6-0 scoreline.

Now it’s time for the US Open. Sabalenka and Swiatek have both won the US Open title, but former ATP player Jack Sock has picked the former as the favorite to defend her title. He said on the Nothing Major podcast:

All credit to Iga, but I think I am probably going to ride with Sabalenka as the favorite for the US Open. I think she has proven on all surfaces she can play so big and dominant and blow women off the court in some of these matches with her aggressive play. I would side with Sabalenka, probably.

It was Swiatek’s first title of the season as well as her first since her victory at the Roland Garros last year. Before Wimbledon, she played her career’s first grass-court final at the Bad Homburg Open but ended up losing the match to Jessica Pegula.

Swiatek will next be playing at the Canadian Open, which she had skipped last year. She lifted the US Open back in 2022 and needs only the Australian Open to complete the Career Grand Slam.

Aryna Sabalenka withdrew from the Canadian Open

Sabalenka will not be playing the Canadian Open as she withdrew from the tournament, citing fatigue. Last year in the tournament, the 27-year-old lost to eventual runner-up Anisimova in the quarterfinals.

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/Roland Garros)

Sabalenka will start her campaign on the North American hard-court swing at the Cincinnati Open, which she lifted last year by beating home favorite Pegula. She then lifted her career’s third singles Grand Slam title by beating Pegula in the US Open final.

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