Belinda Bencic admits she is being taken out of her comfort zone following the latest change in her coaching setup but it is a gamble she hopes will pay off.
The Swiss No.1 has appointed Dimitry Tursunov as her new coach following the end of his brief stint with former US Open champion Emma Raducanu. Tursunov, who is a former world No.20 on the men’s Tour, has already established himself as a top mentor on the women’s Tour in recent years. The Russian has previously worked with Aryna Sabalenka and Anette Kontaveit, guiding them both to career highs.
“It’s definitely challenging for me because it’s different and it’s new and it’s something to improve,” Bencic said during an interview with WTA Insider. “So I’m out of my comfort zone and it’s exactly what I want.”
The appointment of Tursunov replaces Sebastian Sachs who Bencic began working with at the 2021 Stuttgart Open. They ended their collaboration a couple of weeks ago at the US Open where the tennis star lost in the third round to Karolina Pliskova.
The 25-year-old is hoping that Tursunov will help elevate her game heading into the 2023 season. So far this year, Bencic has compiled a win-loss record of 38-18, including her first round win against Leylah Fernandez at the Guadalajara Open earlier this week. She won her sixth Tour title in April at the Charleston Open and was also runner-up at the German Open in June.
“I strongly believe that he’s a very good coach and he can improve me, my game and the mental part. I’m super happy that he decided to work with me. I want to make it great and want to improve exactly this part that we were just talking about.” She said.
“I saw the partnerships he had with other players and he had great success. His way of coaching is a way that can help me. I strongly believe it can be good. Also with the talks and on the court it has to click. I think it’s early for that, but I’m absolutely sure that it’s going to work out well and I’m going to try and do everything for it.”
One of the key areas Bencic will be working on with her new mentor concerns her mental approach to the game. She believes Tursunov’s brutal honesty about matters is something she needs.
“I think he’s very clear-headed and tries to mentally get you to see things differently than you see now,” Bencic said. “He’s very honest and tough in things, but that’s precisely what I need. I don’t need someone to talk about everything but the point. I can see this can be the thing that I need to have a different perspective.”
Bencic is in with a shot of qualifying for the WTA Finals depending on how she and her peers perform in Mexico this week. Should she qualify, it will be only the second time she has done so after 2019 when she reached the semi-final stage.
