Dmitry Tursunov launches scathing criticism of Pam Shriver after she urged Elena Rybakina to discard coach
Stefano Vukov had been criticized by Shriver after screaming at Rybakina during her semifinal match
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Stefano Vukov, Dmitry Tursunov and Pam Shriver
Dmitry Tursunov asked Pam Shriver to apologize publicly to Stefano Vukov after she urged the Kazak tennis player Elena Rybakina to dump the coach on Twitter. Tursunov replied to that tweet with a strongly worded statement where he said that Rybakina’s success till now is due to Vukov and that he doesn’t deserve the disrespect from Shriver.
Tursunov responded to Shriver’s tweet, saying, “Pam, I have respected you as an entity in tennis but lately I’ve seen you write a lot of questionable things. This one has to top it off. In your quest to vilify random people in tennis for odd reasons, you have openly and publicly insulted a man who is solely responsible for the fact that you even know who Elena Rybakina is.” He clearly believes Rybakina wouldn’t have been where she is without Vukov.
Tursunov continues, “You have zero clue what you are talking about and at the very least owe a public apology to a man who is a great coach in every sense of that word. You’d be lucky to ever reach that level and every player would be lucky to have someone like that in their corner.” He was forthright with his words and showed his anger at Shriver’s comments. Shriver and Tursunov are coaches themselves. Tursunov is taking a shot at her saying she will never reach the level of Vukov.
He concludes with his characterization of Vukov as highly loyal to his players. He calls Shriver out for only judging Vukov based on the few on-court incidents he has been criticized for. “The man is loyal to his player with every atom of his body and soul. It’s a shame you have proved time and time again that you are blind to see anything than bunch of gestures,” Tursunov says.
Related: Aryna Sabalenka beats Elena Rybakina to clinch the 2023 Australian Open
Stefano Vukov was criticized for screaming at semifinal clash
Fans and analysts alike have criticized Stefano Vukov recently. He often expressed his thoughts on Rybakina’s game aggressively and loudly during the Australian Open.
WTA is trialing allowing coaching, and Rybakina and Vukov have used the rule to their advantage. It has sometimes resulted in outbursts from the court. He however says that his screams are due to the sound of the noise. He also said he needed to get his message across to get Rybakina back on track. The people watching these games felt that he was too harsh on Rybakina.
Shriver’s tweet came in the context of this. She felt Rybakina was disrespected by Vukov when he screamed and pointed to his head during her semifinal clash. But Vukov said he did so to push Rybakina to concentrate when she conceded games.
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Samarth Srivastava
(139 Articles Published)