Emma Raducanu’s former coach praises Aryna Sabalenka for her stability putting her above Iga Swiatek, hopes to turn coach for Coco Gauff in the coming season

Swiatek and Sabalenka finished the 2023 season as the World No. 1 and World No. 2, respectively.

Emma Raducanu’s former coach praises Aryna Sabalenka for her stability putting her above Iga Swiatek, hopes to turn coach for Coco Gauff in the coming season

Aryna Sabalenka (L), Iga Swiatek (R) (Sources: The Independent/Wikipedia)

Dmitry Tursunov, the former coach of Emma Raducanu, recently opined that he will put Aryna Sabalenka over Iga Swiatek any day because the Belarusian has far more stability and consistency than the Polish. To substantiate the same, he took the example of the 2023 season and said that although Swiatek was more successful, Sabalenka was more consistent throughout the year, which is a very important metric to judge the quality of a player. 

At the face of it, Iga Swiatek had a far more successful campaign than Aryna Sabalenka in 2023. She finished the season as World No. 1, winning the French Open (her fourth Grand Slam), the Qatar Open, the Stuttgart Open, the Poland Open, the China Open and the WTA Finals.

However, after winning the French Open, the Polish saw a dip in her performance while Sabalenka kept on going. Thus, at one point, Sabalenka had also overtaken her to become World No. 1. Unfortunately, she could not maintain her position. 

FS Video
But it’s one thing when you play well in one or two tournaments a year; it’s another thing when you do it all the time. For example, Aryna Sabalenka, who played in four semi-finals at the Slams - won one of them and lost the other in the final. This, of course, is a very serious indicator of stability, which even Iga did not have this year.
Dmitry Tursunov said. (H/T: Championat)

Talking about head-to-head records between the two players, Iga Swiatek is currently ahead. The two have played a total of nine matches against each other, out of which Iga won nine and Sabalenka won three. Although the records portray otherwise, Dimitry Turusnov said that Aryna Sabalenka is solely ahead based on her consistency. 

Dmitry Tursunov shows interest in coaching Coco Gauff

Turusnov also mentioned that he has identified three players this season who can win the Grand Slam titles in 2024 and achieve great success. They are Liudmila Samsonova, Coco Gauff, Paula Badosa, and Zheng Qinwen. He would love to coach these players, primarily talking about Gauff. 

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Source: Team USA)
It would be cool to work with these players if we both want to. Coco Gauff has already won a Slam. Zheng Qinwen improved her performance, and Liudmila Samsonova too: she played a couple of five-hundreds. Therefore, in general, they show that somewhere they can be a threat.

Gauff will kick off her 2024 season with the Australian Open which starts on January 14. The American is one of the favorites to win the tournament this year, having won the 2023 US Open a few months ago. 

In case you missed it: