Dmitry Tursunov

Russian tennis coach and player (born 1982)

Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a Russian tennis coach and former player. At age 12, he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in October 2006. Tursunov jokes about his lack of ability and success on clay courts. He was sponsored by Fila and Wilson. He helped the Russian Davis Cup team win the 2006 Davis Cup and reach the finals of the 2007 Davis Cup.

Tursunov began playing tennis in Moscow at the age of five when his father made him play a few hours a day. He came to the United States to train with Vitaly Gorin. He then reached his first ATP final at the LA Tennis Open losing to Tommy Haas and followed it up with a semifinal performance at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic losing to Andy Murray. He then fell in the third rounds of Rogers Cup and US Open, and the second rounds of Cincinnati Masters and BRD Năstase Țiriac Trophy. Additionally, he lost to Dennis Novikov at the 2016 Sarasota Challenger while Novikov was experimenting with a new Yonex frame. He then won his first career title at the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open defeating Tommy Robredo in the semifinals and Tomáš Berdych in the final. He then lost four consecutive matches in the third round of Japan Open Tennis Championships and the first rounds of Kremlin Cup, Madrid Masters and St. Petersburg Open. He then reached the third round of Paris Masters losing to eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko. At the end of the year, he won a Challenger event in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine defeating Benjamin Becker in the final. On 6 January 2007, Tursunov won the Hopman Cup in Perth, Western Australia, while representing Russia alongside Nadia Petrova. In the final, Tursunov defeated Tommy Robredo in straight sets, after teammate Petrova's victory over Anabel Medina Garrigues. Following this match was a pro set mixed doubles between Russians Tursunov and Nadia Petrova and Spaniards Tommy Robredo and Anabel Medina Garrigues. This match was a clear show of the playful nature of Tursunov and the other players. The match was relaxed since the outcome of the mixed doubles pro set match did not matter. At one stage, Anabel Medina Garrigues switched with Tursunov so that Tursunov and Robredo were on one side, while Medina Garrigues and Petrova were on the other. The umpire assigned points to Spain regardless. At the Australian Open, he reached the third round, losing to Tomáš Berdych. He lost in the first round of his next four ATP Tour tournaments. He then fell in the second rounds of Estoril Open and Internazionali d'Italia, and the first round of the Hamburg Masters. At the French Open he fell to Fernando Verdasco. During the grass court season he reached the semifinals of Queen's Club Championships and Nottingham Open to big servers Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlović. At Wimbledon, Tursunov was beaten in four sets in the third round by Tommy Haas. Ironically, Haas was unable to go on and play his next game against Roger Federer due to an abdominal injury. In Indianapolis, Tursunov won his second career title, defeating surprise finalist Frank Dancevic. He then lost three consecutive matches at the Masters event of the Rogers Cup and Cincinnati Masters, and the US Open. Tursunov then rebounded by winning his second title of the year at the Thailand Open, dominating Benjamin Becker. He then reached the third round of the Japan Open losing to Feliciano López. He then lost early in Kremlin Cup and Madrid Masters. At the St. Petersburg Open, he fell in the quarterfinals to Andy Murray. At the Paris Masters, he lost to Mardy Fish. As the defending champion, Tursunov lost in the final of the Challenger in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine to Mischa Zverev.

Tursunov played his first tournament of 2008 at the Qatar Open falling to Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals. At the Sydney International, he defeated Stan Wawrinka, top seed and No. 8 in the world Richard Gasquet, Sébastien Grosjean, and Fabrice Santoro. In the final, Tursunov defeated Australian Chris Guccione for his fourth career title. At the Australian Open, Tursunov beat Xavier Malisse in the first round. However, he then lost his next match against Sam Querrey, in four sets. Tursunov lost in the first round of Rotterdam to Rafael Nadal, but combined with Tomáš Berdych to win the doubles title, defeating Mikhail Youzhny and Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final. This was his second doubles career title. In the Dubai Championships, he fell to Richard Gasquet. At the Indian Wells Open, he fell to Juan Ignacio Chela. At the Miami Open, he defeated Richard Gasquet in their third encounter of the year in the second round, but lost in the fourth round to Tomáš Berdych. In Monte Carlo, he lost to Igor Andreev. At the Barcelona Open, he reached the quarterfinals losing to German Denis Gremelmayr. He lost two consecutive first round appearances at the Rome Masters and the Hamburg Masters. At Roland Garros, Tursunov won his first two matches against Daniel Brands and Guillermo García López, and then lost to Jérémy Chardy in straight sets. However, Tursunov paired up with Igor Kunitsyn in the men's doubles event. They reached the semifinals, losing to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić. This performance lifted Tursunov to a career high doubles ranking of No. 36. In Nottingham, Tursunov walked off the court when losing by a set and a break in a first round doubles match after disagreeing with a line call. The next morning, the ATP announced that he had been thrown out of the tournament because of his actions. This included the singles tournament, handing second round opponent Thomas Johansson a walkover into the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, Tursunov beat Nicolas Mahut and Chris Eaton, but lost to Janko Tipsarević in the third round. At the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, Tursunov upset top seed James Blake to make it to the final. He was unable to defend his title, losing to Gilles Simon in the championship match. At the Rogers Cup, Tursunov lost in the third round to Blake. He lost to eventual champion Andy Murray, also in the third round, at the Cincinnati Masters, after earning his third victory of the year over Richard Gasquet. Tursunov represented Russia for the first time at the Beijing Olympics. He lost in the first round to top seed Roger Federer. At the US Open, Tursunov reached the third round by beating Eduardo Schwank and Victor Hănescu, before losing to compatriot Nikolay Davydenko. Tursunov celebrated his fifth ATP title win at the Open de Moselle in Metz, beating Paul Henri Mathieu in the final. He then suffered three consecutive losses at the Kremlin Cup, Madrid Masters, and St. Petersburg Open. At the Indian Wells Masters, he retired in his second round match against Novak Djokovic. He then won a Challenger event in Helsinki in his last tournament of the year. The Russian began 2009 by losing his first three matches at the Qatar Open, Sydney International, and Australian Open. He then qualified for the Zagreb Indoors, but lost to Ernests Gulbis. He then fell in the second round of Rotterdam, Marseille, and Dubai, losing to Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Feliciano López, and Igor Andreev, respectively. He then lost in the third rounds of the Indian Wells to Rafael Nadal and Miami to Andy Roddick. He came back at the French Open, losing in the first round to Arnaud Clément. On grass, he reached the second round of the Gerry Weber Open, losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber, and won the Eastbourne International, defeating Canadian Frank Dancevic in the final, his first grass court title. He then retired in his first round match in Wimbledon against Mischa Zverev due to an ankle injury. He reached the quarterfinals Indianapolis Tennis Championships, losing to Frank Dancevic. He then lost four consecutive matches at the LA Tennis Open, the Washington Open, the Rogers Cup, and the US Open.

Dmitry missed most of the first part of 2010 due to the left ankle injury, and he had ankle surgery in February. He played his first tournament of the year at the French Open, falling to Daniel Gimeno Traver in the first round. He then played on the Challenger Tour. He fell in the first round in Wimbledon to Rainer Schüttler. He then fell in the second round of the qualifying draw in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships and the Farmers Classic. He won his first ATP match of the year at the Washington Open, defeating Teymuraz Gabashvili before falling to Tomáš Berdych. He again lost in the first round of the US Open to Jürgen Melzer in five sets. He then played in Bangkok, losing in the first round and quarterfinals of the Challenger events, and in the qualifying competition Thailand Open. At the Japan Open, Tursunov produced two upsets defeated world No. 25, Ernests Gulbis, and world No. 30, Richard Gasquet, before falling in the quarterfinals to the world No. 1 and eventual champion, Rafael Nadal. In Russia as a wild card, he fell in the first round of the Kremlin Cup and reached the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open, losing to compatriot Mikhail Youzhny. He then retired in his first round match at the Valencia Open 500 against Pablo Andújar due to a left calf injury. Tursunov began 2011 by losing in the qualifying draw of the Brisbane International to Peter Luczak and the first round of the Australian Open to Victor Troicki. He then competed in the Singapore ATP Challenger as a wildcard, which he won. In Rotterdam, Tursunov was able to qualify and beat Andrey Golubev in the first round, before losing to fourth seed Tomáš Berdych. At the Marseille Open, he defeated Grigor Dimitrov in three tight sets. He then defeated Ivan Ljubičić and then world No. 10 Jürgen Melzer, his first victory over a top ten player in over two and a half years. He then lost to top seed Robin Söderling in the semifinals. In the Dubai Championships, he fell to Marcel Granollers. He then competed on the Challenger Tour, winning the GB Pro Series Bath. He reached the finals of the Athens Open, a Challenger event, but withdrew due to a knee problem. He then fell in the qualifying draw of the BMW Open and the first round of the French Open. On grass, he played at the Challenger Nottingham Trophy falling to Matthias Bachinger. At the Birmingham Championships, he fell in the first round to Feliciano López in straight sets. At his final Wimbledon warm up, the Rosmalen Open, he had wins over Robert Kendrick, Nicolas Mahut, Santiago Giraldo, and third seed Xavier Malisse in the semifinals. He then faced fourth seed Ivan Dodig in the final and won his seventh ATP title.

In 2015, he won two men's doubles titles with different partners.

As Tursunov's form started to improve and he came into calculation for selection in the Russia Davis Cup team, the problems he was having obtaining United States citizenship became apparent. Tursunov attempted over several years' time to become a United States citizen, but the process stalled and Tursunov travels with a Russian passport and an American visa. In his own words "It's frustrating, but what can you do?" In spite of this, Tursunov was selected for Russia in the Davis Cup semi final against Croatia and won his dead rubber match against Ivo Karlović. In 2006 in the first round tie against Netherlands, he won both his matches against Raemon Sluiter and Melle van Gemerden. He defeated Richard Gasquet in five sets in the fourth rubber of the quarterfinal; consequently sending the Russians into the semi finals of the Davis Cup. For the second time in 2006, Tursunov sealed victory for Russia in the Davis Cup; this time in the semi final where he defeated Andy Roddick of the United States in a match that lasted 4 hours and 48 minutes, ending 17–15 in the last set. By virtue of this victory, he earned Russia the spot in the Davis Cup final against Argentina, which took place in December. Despite, earning the winning match in the quarterfinals and semifinals, Tursunov only played doubles partnering with Marat Safin, which they won to give Russia a 2–1 lead. Marat Safin later sealed the 2006 Davis Cup win for Russia with his victory over José Acasuso.

In 2011, he mentored a 17 year old ATP player, Aslan Karatsev, for some time. He subsequently became the coach of WTA Tour tennis players Elena Vesnina and Aryna Sabalenka, respectively. He was the coach of 2021 US Open Champion Emma Raducanu for a short period in 2022. He coached Belinda Bencic from October 2022 to April 2023. He is currently coaching Veronika Kudermetova.