“Kremlin Propaganda”. Controversy in Great Britain: after Wimbledon ban, Emma Raducanu hired a Russian coach

In September 2021, the life of the British tennis player Emma Raducanu (currently 10th in the world) changed forever. The 19-year-old player broke all the statistics: she became US Open champion from the 150th position in the ranking to the top positions, from qualy to the consecration without giving up sets, obtaining new advertising contracts, magazine covers, rising as a celebrity … However, his game -practically- did not stand out again. Also, among the many changes she faced, she came under scrutiny for the continual replacement of coaches. Now, a few weeks before her title defense in New York, she began another stage with a new coach. Of course, the decision did not go unnoticed due to different nuances and it already generated noise on the tour.

Raducanu, who was promptly eliminated in the second round at the last Wimbledon event, began working with the Russo Dmitry Tursunov, who was 20th in the ATP ranking in 2006, won seven individual titles and was coach -among other players- of the Estonian Anett Kontaveit (currently 2nd) and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (6th). The link between Raducanu and Tursunov generated some controversy in the United Kingdom since in the last British Grand Slam players from Russia and Belarus were banned from entering as punishment for the warlike invasion of Ukraine. British political sectors reacted and rejected that one of Great Britain’s sports figures work with a Russian coach.

Since it was consecrated at Flushing Meadows 2021, Raducanu’s every move is watched – by the public, the media, the critics – with almost suffocating attention, which has also affected and negatively influenced the tennis player’s game. Chris Bryant, a Labor MP, told the newspaper Telegraph that “the Kremlin will use this link” between Raducanu and Tursunov (born in Moscow, in 1982) as “Russian propaganda, Putin propaganda”.

Aware of this opinion of the British official, in a Russian state TV program they reacted and ridiculed: “Do you know what terrible headlines the British newspapers published today? That the crowd’s favourite, tennis player Raducanu, who was their athlete of the year last year, has gotten, think about it, a Russian coach! Do you understand the extent of their paranoia and outright Russophobia in the West?

Last July 9, despite Wimbledon’s efforts to ban players from Russia and Belarus from competing in the All England, a decision that resulted in heavy fines from the ATP and WTA (no points were awarded for the ranking), the women’s individual competition of the contest ended with the victory of a player born in Russia but who represents the flag of Kazakhstan: Elena Rybakina. Several Russian officials laughed at “fate.” One of them, Shamil Tarpischev, the historic president of the Russian Tennis Federation, who stated, with a great deal of irony: “Well done Rybakina. We have won the Wimbledon tournament.”

The link between Raducanu and Tursunov did not go unnoticed just because of nationalities. A few months ago, when the Russian coach was asked about the current situation of the British player, he replied: “She has entered a spiral of dismissal of all the people who have taken her to the elite. If she called me now to work with her, I would tremble with fear because I would feel that I can say goodbye to her at any moment ”. Despite these statements, today they are on the same team.

The concrete thing is that if you look back, taking the 2021 US Open as a starting point, you can see that Raducanu endured a very stressful first full season on tour. At the same time that it became a commercial and media boom, his responses within the court went another way. Since then he suffered from injuries, played few games (11 wins, 15 losses) and never looked good again. On August 29, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the curtain will rise on the last Grand Slam. Raducanu will arrive as the defending champion, with all the pressure that this represents. All eyes will be focused on her performance.