The coach and in the past the Russian tennis player Dmitry Tursunov spoke about the end of the work with the 22nd racket in the world Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Are you currently working with Alexandrova?
– No, we agreed on two tournaments – Rome and Roland Garros. As expected, they worked.
– Why is this so?
– I don’t know. They proposed to me, I accepted. If there is a player’s desire to work further, then there is a discussion about the conditions to continue. This format is more logical to call a consultation than a joint work.
— Did you have a specific area of responsibility?
– It is correct to consider it as a consultation. Many hire a coach to simply serve the ball and create atmosphere. Someone to control everything from “A” to “Z”. There are a few intermediate options, for example, a view from the outside. A kind of coach for an hour. This is also practiced. At one time there was a fashion for former elite players to work with current players as a second coach.
— Can we do something in one or two tournaments?
– It depends a lot on the player himself, on his openness to changes. Someone grasps quickly, someone cannot be persuaded. It happens that the information is correct, but the player is not ready to hear it or does not agree with it, or there are too many thoughts on the result, and the changes are not ” on the subject”. It’s possible to improve something tactically, to patch things up, but it’s clear that the coach is not a magician, he can’t make fundamental changes in 30 minutes. This is my first experience in a consultation format during tournaments. Although there are some changes in the direction of the work, as well as Katya’s awareness of certain moments in her game. But, of course, with her potential, I would like to make a candy out of her.
– Did you like it?
– It’s hard. You cannot do certain things thoroughly because you are faced with the psychological side of the player during tournaments. Changes may affect the outcome, but you cannot give any guarantees. As a coach, you have to control yourself. If in a normal format you as the coach are responsible for the outcome, then in a short period of time you don’t control most of what happens and can’t dictate what needs to be changed. Here the player agrees with you or not. But you are already hostage to the player’s internal state, and you have no leverage.
– So you didn’t like it?
– Work in this format is not as fruitful as in the long run. I like when my vision and that of the player coincide. But now that’s not happening, so I’m doing what I can, in the moment.
– What are the reasons for your breakup with Belinda Bencic in April? Is it related to politics?
– No. Of course, I can’t get into anyone else’s head, but I doubt it. I cannot talk about the internal kitchen with Bencic according to the terms of the contract, – Metaratings.ru quotes Tursunov as saying.
The collaboration between Dmitry Tursunov and Ekaterina Alexandrova rose to prominence in May, when they were spotted at a training ground in Rome. A month later, the tennis player talked about working with a 40-year-old specialist. On June 18, Alexandrova won the WTA tournament in Hertogenbosch: in the final she defeated Veronika Kudermetova – 4: 6, 6: 4, 7: 6 (3).
Source : MatchTV
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
